Distrust: Warehouse game
by SpectralBeast
Summary: (Ch. 1 has been updated and now includes character introductions). 18 students are kidnapped and trapped in an abandoned warehouse. They are forced to kill each other to escape. This story has a darker undertone and setting.
1. Character Profiles

Character profiles are here in case you forget who a character is.

 _ **female characters:**_

 _ **1: Kokoro** (main character/narrator)_

 _Hairstyle: short, thick pigtails that "curl inward" and are jagged on the end._

 _Hair color: Black_

 _Bangs: medium-length and choppy. Has long side bangs that end just above the chin._

 _Eyes: Crystal Blue_

 _Clothes: black school girl top/ black tie/ black skirt/ black ripped leggings/ black converse sneakers_

 _Talent: Dualweilder_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'2"_

 _Weight: 98 ib_

 _Personality: Recluse/ Loner/ Quiet but not shy/ Quick to snap back when offended_

 _Skin: Porcelain white_

 _Age: 18_

 _Extra: Carries two swords on her back_

* * *

 **2: Hanoka**

 _Hairstyle: Long and straight. Stops at the waist._

 _Hair color: Black_

 _Bangs: A Straight "fringe" and covers entire forehead._

 _Eyes: Lime green_

 _Clothes: A caramel brown button up top/ toffee brown plaid skirt/ long black leggings/ dark brown flat shoes_

 _Talent: Strategic Thinker_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'6"_

 _Weight: 100 ib_

 _Skin: Pale white_

 _Personality: Calm/ Shy, but will speak when needed/ Generous_

 _Age: 15_

 _Extra: None_

* * *

 **3: Miu**

 _Hairstyle: Two buns on each side that are tied just above the neck but below the ears._

 _Hair color: Dark Brown_

 _Bangs: evened and layered. Has side bangs that curl just below the chin_

 _Eyes: Dead white/ No pupil (similar to a corpse)_

 _Clothes: white collared button up that is unbuttoned at the top/ black pencil skirt with slits on the side_

 _/black see-through panty hose with garter belt ('strings?') that are attached to them/ black heels_

 _Talent: Scientist_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'11" (heel inches included)_

 _Weight: 140ib (She's fairly skinny but weighs this much because of her height)_

 _Personality: Bitter (at times)/ Intelligent/ Weird/ Organized/ Selfish_

 _Skin: medium tone/white_

 _Age: 19_

 _Extra: has a scar going around her entire neck that has been stitched up, so it resembles Frankenstein. Has similar scars around both of her wrists._

* * *

 **4: Rose**

 _Hairstyle: Tied into two low pigtails that rest over the shoulders and end below the breast area. End of hair is wavy._

 _Bangs: pulled to one side by a plain hair clip._

 _Hair color: platinum blond_

 _Eyes: a pale blue_

 _Clothes: White button up, long sleeves/ black tie/ black plaid skirt/ long white socks with two black stripes at the top/ chunky black heels_

 _Talent: Enhanced sense of smell_

 _Nationality: French-Japanese_

 _Height: 5'7" (heel inches included)_

 _Weight: 110ib_

 _Personality: Sweet/ Kind/ Confident/ Free Thinker_

 _Skin: white_

 _Age: 16_

 _Extra: has a bracelet on left wrist with an artificial black rose on the top._

* * *

 **5: Tomomi (nickname: Momo)**

 _Hairstyle: pigtails that stop just above shoulder and are curly and wavy (similar to Junko's Beta hairstyle)_

 _Hair color: White_

 _Eyes: Lavender/ Light Purple_

 _Clothes: white collared shirt, long sleeves, right sleeve is rolled up above elbow while left sleeve is rolled up below the elbow/ black tie/ black skinny jeans with a studded belt/ black boots that go up to the knees_

 _Talent: Astral Projection_

 _Nationality: African-American_

 _Height: 5'4"_

 _Weight: 103ib_

 _Personality: Mellow/ Introverted/ Intelligent_

 _Skin: Mocha Brown_

 _Age: 18_

 _Extra: Black wrist watch on right wrist/ black fingerless gloves_

* * *

 **6: Hotaru**

 _Hairstyle: A thick braid that is thrown over her right shoulder. Ends just above the right breast area._

 _Hair color: Black_

 _Eyes: chrome white_

 _Clothes: white "gothic-like" shirt with frills going down the middle of the torso area, has long sleeves/ black suspenders connected to a skirt (similar to Kyoko's Beta outfit)_ _/ Black and white striped long socks/ black sneakers_

 _Talent: Mental-Case (not really a "Talent" but more of a serious psychological condition. I thought it fit her perfectly, though)_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'0"_

 _Weight: 92ib_

 _Personality: Introverted/ Creepy/ Freaks people out when she speaks/ Insane/_

 _Skin: Porcelain white_

 _Age: 17_

 _Extra: Always plays with her hands/ fidgets a lot/ mumbles most of the time/ Soft-spoken/ Always averts her eyes elsewhere when speaking_

* * *

 **7: Ayane**

 _Hairstyle: two long pigtails that are tied low, just below the neck and end at the back of her calves._

 _Hair color: Dark blue with pink streaks_

 _Bangs: neat and layered_

 _Eyes: Magenta_

 _Clothes: Black corset with sleeves that slump below the shoulders/ yellow plaid skirt/ white long socks with 3 different colored stripes at top, which are; yellow, blue, and pink_ _/ black boots with pink laces_

 _Talent: Punk-Rocker_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'9"_

 _Weight: 115ib_

 _Personality: Extroverted/ Energetic/ Friendly_

 _Skin: medium-tan_

 _Age: 17_

 _Extra: spiked bracelets on both wrists/ spiked choker around neck/ pink flowery accessories that are tied around her hair_

* * *

 **8: Kohaku**

 _Hairstyle: short pigtails, no longer than 3 inches below the neck, that curl inward_

 _Hair color: Brown_

 _Bangs: two short parts that cover the side of face, and one long bang in middle of forehead_

 _Eyes: Fiery red_

 _Clothes: A black karate top that is big enough on her to be a short dress/ she is bare footed_

 _Talent: Swift-footed_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 4'10"_

 _Personality: Kind/ Quiet/ Firm/ Attentive_

 _Skin: medium_

 _Age: 15_

 _Extra: has white bandages around both feet and both hands_

* * *

 **9: Clover (twin of Callum)**

 _Hairstyle: top of hair contains a "bun-like" ball with strands that curl inward, similar to a crown. A braid wraps around it._

 _Hair color: golden blond_

 _Bangs: layered_

 _Eyes: Red_

 _Clothes: Crimson red corset with long, frilly black sleeves/ Black fluffy skirt/ red and black stripped socks/ black corset heels_

 _Talent: Lip-Reading_

 _Nationality: British_

 _Height: 5'3"_

 _Weight: 107ib_

 _Age: 16_

 _Personality: Focused/ Leader/ Passionate/ Persuasive_

* * *

 _ **male characters:**_

 **1: Owen**

 _Hairstyle: short hair that doesn't go past nape of neck._

 _Hair color: white_

 _Bangs: long and jagged but doesn't cover up the eyes_

 _Eyes: blue_

 _Clothes: White school shirt/ black shorts that stop at the knee/ black long socks/ black dress shoes_

 _Talent: Chess Player_

 _Nationality: ?_

 _Height: 5'5"_

 _Weight: 100ib_

 _Personality: Blunt/ To the point/ [may come off as] Rude/ Intelligent/ Mocking [at times]_

 _Skin: white_

 _Age: 17_

 _Extra: has suspenders connected to his shorts that make an 'X' in the back/ wears a black bowtie around the neck_

* * *

 **2: Jun**

 _Hairstyle: Fluffy/ some strands of hair curl upwards_

 _Hair color: black_

 _Eyes: Brown_

 _Clothes: Navy Blue school boy uniform (the top having buttons going down the whole torso)/ top is completely buttoned, making whatever he's wearing under the uniform_ _top unknown_

 _Talent: Exceptional Memory_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 6'1"_

 _Weight: 160ib (due to height)_

 _Personality: Sweet/ Gentleman/ Intellectual/ Charming_

 _Skin: medium-tan_

 _Age: 18_

 _Extra: none_

* * *

 **3: Shouta**

 _Hairstyle: a trouffle fringe_

 _Hair color: Dark blue_

 _Eyes: Black_

 _Clothes: Black button up with a black blazer/ black slacks/ black dress shoes_

 _Talent: Sign Language_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'9"_

 _Weight: 123ib_

 _Personality: Relaxed/ Reliable/ Rational/ Selfless_

 _Age: 15_

 _Skin: white_

 _Extra: none_

* * *

 **4: Daichi**

 _Hairstyle: medium-length, ends of hair curl outwards._

 _Hair color: Dark purple_

 _Eyes: Black_

 _Clothes: black hoodie that is zipped up over a dark grey shirt/ dark blue jeans/ red sneakers_

 _Talent: Sleight of hand_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'7"_

 _Weight: 130ib_

 _Personality: Cold/ Cruel/ Mean_

 _Skin: tannish-white_

 _Age: 16_

 _Extra: has a pair of shades clipped onto the back of the left jean pocket_

* * *

 **5: Takeshi**

 _Hairstyle: Short fringe with a long emo-style bang that covers up left eye_

 _Hair color: Black_

 _Eyes: Red_

 _Clothes: Black Tuxedo_

 _Talent: Voice Throwing_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 5'8"_

 _Weight: 135ib_

 _Personality: Narcissistic/ Egotistical/ Proud/ Believes he is Superior to everyone_

 _Skin: medium-white_

 _Age: 17_

 _Extra: wears white silk gloves_

* * *

 **6: Nobuyuki**

 _Hairstyle: Short, with back ends jutting outwards_

 _Bangs: big piece falls in between eyes on middle of forehead, with side bangs falling below the chin_

 _Hair color: Brown_

 _Eyes: Cobalt Blue_

 _Clothes: Black button up/ white tie/ black skinny jeans/ short black combat boots_

 _Talent: Survivalist_

 _Nationality: Chinese_

 _Height: 5'1"_

 _Weight: 106ib_

 _Personality: Alert/ Cautious/ Athletic/ Tenderhearted_

 _Skin: medium-white_

 _Age: 18_

 _Extra: None_

* * *

 **7: Haru:**

 _Hairstyle: Short and "feathery"/ silky/ "fluffy"_

 _Hair color: Black_

 _Eyes: brown_

 _Clothes: black blazer, with white undershirt/ black shorts that come up above the knee and just below the thigh/ black laced boots_

 _Talent: Crime scene/dead body photo collector (again, he's the other character that doesn't really have a "Talent". Its more of an obsession)_

 _Nationality: Japanese_

 _Height: 4'11"_

 _Weight: 89ib_

 _Personality: Introverted/ Clever/ Clear minded/ Curious_

 _Skin: Pale white_

 _Age: 14_

 _Extra: has black nails_

* * *

 **8: Callum (twin of Clover)**

 _Hairstyle: short and layered_

 _Hair color: golden blonde_

 _Eyes: Red_

 _Clothes: crimson red collared shirt with black tie/ black skinny jeans/ dark red converses_

 _Talent: Silver-Tongued_

 _Nationality: British_

 _Height: 5'3"_

 _Weight: 107ib_

 _Personality: Daring/ Compulsive Liar/ Menacing_

 _Skin: white_

 _Age: 16_

 _Extra: none_

* * *

 **9: Seung**

 _Hairstyle: Long, stops at waistline_

 _Hair color: Dark Grey_

 _Bangs: layered and silky, pushed to one side_

 _Eyes: Black_

 _Clothes: Black Business suit_

 _Talent: Hitman_

 _Nationality: Korean_

 _Height: 5'11"_

 _Weight: 145ib_

 _Personality: Secretive/ Co-operative/ Dutiful/ Educated/ Elegant/ Calculative_

 _Skin: tan_

 _Age: 21_

 _Extra: wears a pair of black gloves_


	2. The Abandoned Warehouse

**1-Chapter 1 has been revised and now includes character introductions.**

 **2-For the sake of consistency, I did not give the characters last names. This was to make it easier to remember the characters.**

* * *

A musty scent hit my nostrils, which shot me awake. A cold and hard surface scratched the side of my cheek, and I realized I must have been lying face down on a concrete floor.I finally opened my eyes after anticipating the worst. I was in a dark room with metallic walls. An open doorway was directly 5 feet in front of me, and contained no actual door, as if it had been broken off or built that way. A crooked and dusty bed was to my right. I could not make out much detail as to where I was, especially since the environment was dim and dark.

I lifted up my head to get a better view of everything, and I could see I must have been in an abandoned building. Although, what kind of building it was I could not tell. Across the empty doorway was an empty space the led to nowhere. It was just a bare metallic wall just like the room I was in. I tried to stand up, but something held me in place. I felt a tug on my arm, and a tightening in my wrist.

I turned to observe my arm only to see a chain and shackle attached. I could not describe the feeling that surged through my body. It was more of a dread inducing adrenaline rush. I must have stood there in shock for at least 15 minutes before clearing my head and observing the area closer.

I checked the room again, and again, and again, only to find nothing that could have gotten me out of there. I slumpped down and signed. I could feel the warm wetness of tears rolling down my cheeks and my vision went blurry. My head clenched up as a headache started to come on. That was when I told myself to calm down and get a grip on my emotions. I wiped away my tears with my free hand, only to feel a weird object brush my face. I looked at my right wrist, which had a note card attached to it.

A grin slid across my face. I opened up the card and read it.

あなたは脱出したい場合は、キーを使用します. (If you wish to escape, use the key.)

It was a peculiar way of wording things. I ran my finger over the back of the card and felt a cold metal object. I flipped the card over to see a silver key attached with clear tape.

I could have sworn that I let out a small chuckle at this point, but I was unsure since I was too relieved. Taking the key from the note, I stuck it into the hole of the shackle and turned. It clicked with ease and dropped from my wrist. They must have been attached to my wrist for some time now, because my wrist had; tremendous swelling, soreness, and bloody scratches all over.

For an odd reason, it never occurred to me at the time why I was here, or where this was exactly. The first thought that went through my head was that I was set up for some sick and twisted game, and I don't even know how I knew that. I don't have psychic abilities or anything, it was just really strong intuition. Easing forward, I peered around the doorway. All of a sudden, my stomach clenched up and I felt like I was about to throw up. I could feel my nerves tense up and my body started to shake, and I fell to my knees due to my legs giving out from under me. I must have lost my hand-eye-coordination from being unconscious for so long. My muscles had grown accustomed to not being used, and they were going to have a hard time getting back to normal.

With both of my hands in front of me, I pushed upwards. My arms shook heavily as I tried to lift myself up, then came back down. My legs didn't want to go anywhere, and neither did my body. I tried again, only to fail. It was then that I gave up on trying to walk. Instead I lowered myself on my stomach, and started to crawl out of the room into an even darker looking hallway. Since the flooring was made of concrete in the hallway as well, it hurt my whole body every time I inched further across the ground.

Putting my left wrist in front of me, I pushed down and pulled forward, then used my right wrist and repeated. It was a slow progression, but it was better than sitting in one place.

I had no clue on how long the hallway must have been, but I did notice similar doorways on the left and right side after about 15 feet of crawling. The left and right rooms were similar to mine, only they were empty and contained no people inside. There were about 17 rooms I came across that were like this, until I eventually came to the end of the straight path, and the hallway sectioned off into 2 ways. One to the left and one to the right. The dim lights in the hallway kept flickering. I had no idea if I was the only one here, or if there was some killer who had kidnapped me and was ready to slaughter me as I was about to make my escape. It was at this time I noticed a surveillance camera at the top of the metallic wall. The camera was pointed directly at the hallway I had just finished crawling from.

This sent a shiver down my spine, as I knew I was not alone. There must be someone watching me, or else I wouldn't be here right now. I thought as hard as I could. I tried to remember the exact moments before I could have been abducted. Nothing came to mind. I couldn't remember where I was before this place. I couldn't remember what I was doing or even who caught me off guard and brought me here. Maybe I was chloroformed? Or maybe someone forced drugs down my throat. Those were the only things I could think of that can cause memory loss over time. Either way, it didn't matter. It wasn't going to help me get out of here. Only I can get myself out of here.

So I started crawling again, and something in my gut told me to go left, so I started moving down the left hallway.

The lights flickered and stayed off for a few seconds. This freaked me out as I had no way to navigate in the dark without lighting. I heaved a sign of relief when they quickly flashed back on, and I could only chalk this up to poor electricity wiring. The building must be extremely old if the wiring was this bad. After 30 minutes of crawling, and more rooms that I couldn't see into, I finally came to yet another end that had double doors. It actually startled me because this was the first time the frame actually had doors attached to the hinges.

The doors did not have a handle, so I assumed they were the push and pull kind. It took a lot more strength than one would think to get that door to push inwards while trying to crawl in at the same time. After struggling and managing to get through, it took me a little bit to realize there were other people staring back at me. I almost jumped out of my skin at the sight. I counted 17 other people gazing at me in awkward silence, and by the looks on their faces, they were just as surprised to see me, too.

No one spoke for a few moments until someone came rushing over towards me to help me up. A boy in a Navy blue school uniform lifted me up and helped me drag my nearly limp body towards the others. Again, everyone remained silent, not bothering to ask if I was alright. It almost drove me insane, but if there were others here it must mean they are in the same situation that I was in. They must have been kidnapped and brought here like me, and were just as scared as I was, or at least I hope them being terrified was what was keeping them in silence.

The kind boy helped me to a chair sitting in the open space we were at. He pulled down my ripped leggings, and after some time of observing my legs he finally said, "It's nice to see you are okay. There are no visible wounds as far as I can see."

I stared back at him, getting a closer look at his physical appearance. He had brown eyes, which were still looking my legs over. His black hair was very fluffy, with some strands curling upwards. I didn't know what to say. Everyone glaring at me and the boy struck me speechless, and I didn't want to ask any questions. I couldn't handle the attention anymore. "There's nothing wrong with my legs. My muscles are just not used to standing," I said.

I hoped this would make everyone stop staring at me and my damn legs. He rolled my leggings back up, as if to affirm I was correct. "I apologize if I made you uncomfortable," he said. He must have noticed my tension. As he stood up, I finally noticed how tall he actually was. His legs were longer and lankier than what I originally thought. He must have been at least 6 feet tops.

"I'm Jun," he said with a smile. "Is it okay if I ask you your name?"

I fumbled over that question. I don't know if it was because I had forgotten my name for a brief period of time or if I was still out of it.

"Do you remember your name?" he said. His voice remained gentle and calm.

"Y-yes," I said, "It's Kokoro." I had remembered my name out of nowhere. I know its strange for someone to forget their name all of a sudden, but my mind was foggy as if I had been heavily drugged and the side effects still haven't worn off. I couldn't remember much about myself either, or my family, or who I was.

I averted my attention from him for a second, and viewed where I was at. It was an empty warehouse-like room, with random chairs scattered here and there. There were a few columns built in, only this room contained concrete walls. The lighting was still dim, though, but it was slightly brighter than the hallway. The first person in the group I set my eyes up was a short girl with black hair tied into a thick braid. It sat on her shoulder, and fell over a white, long sleeved shirt, and black skirt that had suspenders connected to it. Her short legs had black and white striped long socks and black converse sneakers. Her hands fidgeted when she noticed I was looking at her. Her eyes darted to the side and I could see her mouth mumbling something, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. Her eyes intrigued me because they were a chromatic white, which was abnormal. I forced myself to keep looking over at the other students.

"What are you looking at?" said a black haired boy. His bang fell over his left eye, and the eye that was visible was red. He wore a black tuxedo with silk gloves over his hands. This kid's attitude irritated me. "Does it fucking matter?" I bit back. "Yeah, it does," he said, "I don't like it when a bitch stares at me." Instantly my hand reached for the swords on my back and I felt my body rush forward. I pointed them at his throat in an X form, threatening him. His head was tilted upwards from trying to avoid the blades and he flashed me a sinister grin. "I was only kidding, you crazy bitch."

I looked him over again, reevaluating what I was doing. I pulled back and sheathed my blades.

"Are you some kind of psycho?" he said.

"No," I said, ",But next time I won't hesitate"

It was then that I noticed I was standing perfectly clear on my two legs. I could walk again, but just barely. I collapsed onto the floor before I knew it.

"Maybe we should get psycho bitch a wheelchair," another voice said. It belonged to a dark purple haired boy. He wore a black hoodie that was zipped up over a dark grey shirt. He had on dark blue jeans and red sneakers. He was playing with something in his back pocket before taking whatever it was out, and placing it to his lips. He chewed on the long black piece of what looked like sunglasses. "And who the hell are you?" I said.

"Name's Daichi. Not that you should be concerned who I am, anyway."

"I think it's a good idea that we introduce ourselves. Afterall, we are in a situation where we need to help each other out." A white haired boy spoke. He was fairly short for a male teenager, and his hair stopped at the nape of his neck. He had on a white school boy shirt, and black shorts that stopped at the knee with long black socks on. Black suspenders crossed in an X over his back. "I'm Owen." He looked away like he wanted nothing to do with us. He seemed nice, but quickly grew an attitude after speaking.

"I'm Hanoka. It's nice to meet everyone." She was a girl with long black hair, and bangs that went straight across the forehead. Her top was a button up in caramel brown. A toffee brown plaid skirt hugged her waist, with long black socks and brown flats. Her smile was comforting.

A guy with a blue trouffle fringe laughed. "I'm Shouta." He wore plain black clothes that consisted of a button up, blazer, pants, and dress shoes. He seemed okay enough.

"Nobuyuki, here. I'm the best of the best." A brown haired boy grinned. He was a little egotistical, but probably didn't mean to come off that way. His hair in the back curled outwards, and wore a similar top and bottom to Shouta's, only a white tie was around the collar and he had on combat boots instead of dress shoes. They could have passed for brothers if it weren't for the different hair colors.

"I'm Rose. I hope we can help each other get out of here." She had platinum blond hair that was tied into two wavy pigtails that rested over the shoulders and ended below the chest. She wore a long sleeved white button up, black skirt with matching tie, white long socks with two black stripes at the top, and black chunky heels. Much like Hanoka, she came off as sweet.

A clicking against the ground rang out, and we all averted our attention over to it. A woman in a white button up, and black skirt with slits up the side was clicking her foot against the ground. Her legs had on black transparent stockings, and of course, her heels was making the noise we had heard. She noticed us all staring at her and stopped. "What? Are you expecting me to introduce myself?" She smiled sinisterly and scratched her brown hair. It was tied into two buns that were just below the neck, which was the most shocking thing I noticed about her. Her neck had a scar going around it with stitches, and the same scars and stitches were on both wrists. She looked like something out of a Frakenstein movie. Her dead white eyes sealed the creep factor, though. Was she blind? If she was then how would she have noticed us staring at her?

"I'm Mui." She clicked her tongue. She probably only answered to get everyone's gaze off of her.

"Uhh...I guess you can call me Kohaku," a small girl quietly said. "You guess?" Owen mocked.

She swallowed nervously. "No, I am Kohaku." She smiled, ignoring Owen's comment. Her brown hair was tied into short pigtails that curled inwards towards her neck. She had on a black karate top, and since she was short it fit her like a dress. White bandages were wrapped around her hands and feet, which was odd for a small girl. Was she some kind of boxer? Her fiery orange eyes lit up with delight as she continued to smile.

"I'm Clover, and this is my twin brother Callum." Clover and Callum both had blond hair, and English accents. Clover's hair was a curled in bun, that sort of resembled a crown, and a braid wrapped around it. She looked like a goth lolita with her red corset, black skirt and frilly sleeves, and black corset heels. Her brother Callum wore the same colors, with a red shirt, black tie and jeans, with dark red converse sneakers. He didn't speak much but he held a grin on his face as his twin sister spoke for him. It didn't take me long to figure out most of the people here were snide.

"H-Haru," a shy boy said almost inaudibly. His black hair was fluffy and feathery. He wore the basic white shirt with black blazer. Black shorts came above the knee and black laced boots covered his feet. He was quite short as well. Was this kid even a boy? I averted my attention only to notice a mysterious man standing by himself, away from the group. Sunglasses covered his face, and he had on a formal business suit and black gloves. He saw me looking at him but remained silent. His long dark grey hair only added to his mysteriousness. He had his arms crossed as he leaned against a pole and stared me down behind those sunglasses. I quickly looked away, and tuned back in to everyone else.

"Hi! Hi! I'm Ayane! I'm pleased to meet everyone!" She was extremely energetic. Her hair was long and tied into pigtails, and was the most colorful with it being blue with pink streaks. The clothes she wore stood out the most against everyone else's. A black corset's sleeves slumped below her shoulders, with a yellow plaid skirt, long white socks with a yellow, blue, and pink stripe at the top, and black boots with pink laces. She was probably one of the tallest females here, aside from Miu.

"Takeshi," a guy with a black emo cut said. He wore a black tuxedo with white silk gloves. With his crimson red eyes, I would have easily mistaken him for a vampire.

There were still a few people to go who haven't introduced themselves yet, but for whatever reason they kept to themselves.

"Does anyone know where we are?" Owen said.

"No." Jun answered.

"Its probably a warehouse." a white hair girl said. He hair was tied into two pigtails that were wavy on the end. Her lavender eyes were the most stunning feature on her, and stood out against her brown skin. She had on a white button up, with the right sleeve rolled up above the elbow and the left sleeve rolled slightly below the elbow. The odd asymmetry irked me. From the waist down, she had black skinny jeans with a studded belt, and black boots that went up to her knees. A wristwatch was on her right wrist and she had on black fingerless gloves. She resembled a detective, but I knew different.

She saw me observing her. She signed, not out of irritation, but more out of exhaustion. "I'm Tomomi," she said, "but you can call me Momo if you want." A pitiful look crossed her face until reached out her hand to help me up. What? This sudden kindness caught me off guard since no one else but Jun bothered to help me. I sat there like an idiot without saying anything.

"Do you want to sit on the floor all day or do you want my help?" she said.

I grabbed for her hand and she helped me up, wrapping my arm over her shoulders. "I'll help you out."

We walked towards the double doors into a loud voice blared out and echoed across the warehouse.

"Everyone stay where you are!"

The voice was high pitched and monotone.

A few seconds went by until-"Who the hell said that?"

"Wasn't me," a Owen boy said.

"Me neither," Ayane said.

"Okay, cut the bullshit. Who said that?" Daichi said.

A crackling sound rang out, until the same voice spoke again.

"It was me."

Following the sound, we all could tell the voice was coming from the speakers placed on the walls. None of us ever saw the speakers before until now, so we all assumed it was one of us at first.

"What the hell?" Takeshi said.

"I'm Monokuma." the voice said, "and I'm your new school Principle."

The voice lacked any emotion. It just stated things so leisurely that the person behind the voice sounded depressed.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Daichi said.

An inhuman laugh crackled out, and it was so harsh sounding it made me cringe.

After it was over, a few seconds of silence followed. Then-"You will follow my rules, or else you will be punished."

More silence ensued. No one said anything for a while. Then finally someone said, "Punished?"

A slight chuckle came from the speaker, but it would have been inaudible if it weren't for the complete silence.

"If you don't obey, you die. If you don't play the game, you die." Monokuma said.

"DIE?" Koharu shrieked.

"What do you mean by 'game'?" Tomomi said.

"I will explain in a minute, but first please direct your attention towards the screen."

A tv screen built into the wall lit up in front of us. It displayed text that said 'Warehouse killing' at the top, and 18 students below that.

"Just to let you in on a secret, you won't be able to escape right now." Monokuma said.

"What? Why?" Clover questioned.

"In order to escape, you must KILL someone."

The air became stiff with dread and fear. I could feel a jolt go through my body, and I could feel everyone's tension fill the air surrounding me.

"Kill?" Shouta asked.

A loud piercing laugh rang out until it turned back into that same monotone voice.

"You are currently located inside of an abandoned warehouse, in the middle of nowhere. No one can rescue you. Only you can save yourself by participating in the killing game. To get out you must kill. Don't think you can get out without killing someone, like breaking a window, because you are on the 5th floor. It is well over 30 feet. You'd break your neck on the way down. Not that I'd care when I told you so." Monokuma said.

"Fifth floor? Of a FUCKING warehouse?" Owen blurted.

"We have to kill? W-w-what...the HELL?"

It was then that everyone started to freak out. Screaming and shrieking began and I thought I could feel everyone mentally breaking down into despair. Although, there was one student who was standing in silence to herself. It was the girl with the braid slumped over her shoulder, and she just stared blankly at the screen. The only other person who was calm, or at least was trying to keep her composure, was Tomomi. She still had a good grip on me and stood there stiffly. I couldn't tell if the situation didn't phase her, or if she was just frozen in fear.

"Everyone calm down!" I said.

Oddly enough, this seemed to work. Everyone stopped yelling and turned to face me.

"We need to figure out an alternative solution to our predicament," I said, "like if there are any other exits besides jumping out the window and committing suicide."

"Well, we are on the 5th floor," Jun said,"so, maybe there are stairs that lead down to the 1st floor and there is an exit there."

"That's a possibility, so I suggest everyone split up into teams and search the entire floor until someone finds something." I said.

"That's a great idea," Tomomi agreed.

"Who goes with who?" Owen said.

"How about we let each other choose. A trust situation." I said.

"You are having a hard time walking, so how about I partner up with you since I'm already helping you out." Tomomi said to me.

I thought it was a good enough plan. Then Callum ruined it for me.

"No. She's defenseless in that situation where you get her alone and you could easily kill her without her being able to run away."

"That's a good point," Owen chimed in.

"I would never kill anyone. How cowardly do you think I am?" Tomomi asked.

"We can't take any risks. I want that girl to go with someone who isn't contemplating on killing her. Someone who is smaller or weaker." No one had any ideas or arguments on the matter.

"Look, how about I stay behind and everyone else partner up." I suggested.

Everyone stopped for a moment, and then agreed.

"Okay. That sounds fair, and that way there's less risk for Kokoro," Jun said.

Tomomi partnered up with Callum.

Everyone else also decided who they would team up with.

Jun partnered up with Hanoka, Rose with Miu, and Koharu with Ayane. Shouta went with Haru. Takeshi partnered up with Daichi, and Nobuyuki with Clover. Owen left with the mysterious man who had been staring at me earlier, who I had found out to be named Seung. That was 16 students that had left, and I was the one left behind. However, those numbers struck me as odd, as one student was missing.

I felt a quick tugging on my shoulder, only to realize it was the weird girl from earlier with the braid.

"I'd like to...team up." she said. She was very soft-spoken.

She almost mumbled the next line, to where I could barely hear her. "I'm Hotaru."

"Hi Hotaru." I said, questioning how I was going to be able to lean my body on her as we walked.

"Don't worry, I'm not as weak as I look," she said as if she had read my mind.

She helped me up only for me to recognize that I didn't need to use her to walk. My legs were slowly growing accustomed to standing and I limped my way to the door.

Hotaru quietly followed behind me, not saying a word.

The place was the exact definition of dilapidated and abandoned. It almost looked like a torture factory rather than and abandoned school warehouse. The metallic walls were covered in oxidized rust, and what looked like old blood stains that had tried to be cleaned away. The first room we came upon was an Infirmary, which didn't look any cleaner than the rest of the areas. Hospital beds were lined up against the walls, and while the sheets were clean, the bed frames were rotting away, just like the room was.

I collapsed again, but not from my legs giving out. I realized I was exhausted and my eyes were burning. I don't know where all my energy went, but it seemed to leave my body when I entered this room. It was then and there that I blacked out, and put myself at extreme risk of being murdered by someone who had an advantage over me.


	3. More Questions than Answers

I could feel my body coming to again, although I couldn't tell if I was just having another lucid dream. It took a moment after blinking to notice I was awake.I almost screamed when I saw two people standing above my bed.

"Hey, you're finally awake. It's good to see you're okay." a voice said.

After focusing harder, I could make out two girls. From the introductions earlier, I knew them by the name of Ayane and Koharu.

I groaned. I could barely rasp out the next sentence. "Where am I?"

"Oh?" Ayane said, "the Infirmary where you collapsed."

The Infirmary? That's when I remember I had partnered up with Hotaru, but I didn't see her anywhere in the room. I thought for sure someone like her would take advantage of my sudden black out, regardless of how quiet she was.

"Where's Hotaru?" It was the first question that slipped out.

"You mean that weird girl with the braid?" Ayane said, "she..."

She stopped in mid sentence. I wasn't sure if she didn't know or couldn't remember.

"Yeah, she ran screaming like a lunatic after you collapsed. We were close by and came to inspect what had happened. We thought for sure she had saw a dead body or something." Koharu answered for her.

"Oh."

I had figured that Hotaru wouldn't be squeamish at something as plain as someone blacking out. She didn't freak out earlier during Monokuma's intercom speech, so I thought she would have been a little tougher. Either way, I was thankful she hadn't murdered me when she had the ample opportunity to do so.

"Anyway, its nice to see you are doing fine. I'm glad you aren't dead or anything. After seeing your unconscious body on the ground we almost had a heart attack, until we checked your pulse." Ayane gave me a sweet smile.

Koharu grinned as well and I could tell we were already starting to trust each other. Slowly but surely. I didn't know if I could trust Hotaru in another situation where I blacked out again, but at least I knew she wouldn't kill me.

The room went silent again. I guess no one had much to say at this point. It was a dire situation that would make anyone tense up, no matter how light hearted someone tried to make it. We still had no solution on how to get out, and I was surely no help to anyone in this state. I was positive this made me the number 1 target. I couldn't help but to feel uneasy as I was in constant danger when left alone. The girls's company made me relax, and I knew neither Ayane or Hoharu would try to murder me if there was a potential witness around.

I was at a loss for words. Them watching over me made me slightly uncomfortable just as much as making me at ease. I could not explain the contradiction. It was just there.

"I guess we better get back to investigating." I finally broke the silence.

"In your state?" Koharu said.

I heaved out a loud sign. "I'm fine. I think I can manage to walk on my own now. It was only a temporary muscle shut down."

Ayane got a good grip on my arm and hauled me out of the bed. "We're here for you anyway if you ever have any trouble."

My legs wobbled beneath me, but they were regaining the strength to stand on their own.

"I wonder what caused your muscles to give out like that. None of us other students experienced what you did." Ayane said.

"Maybe just the drugs." I responded. It was indefinite but was the only thing that made sense. After being trapped in a warehouse with others, waking up with a shackle around my wrist, and being forced to kill to escape made it clear we were sedated and dragged here by force. "Hey, if you are alright with it, me and Koharu have something we forgot to check out." Ayane said, before heading off together.

It struck me as odd. Something they forgot to check out? I wasn't quite sure what that meant exactly, but I didn't think too much of it.

Suddenly, a crackling noise rang out.

"I would like to let everyone know that no matter how hard they look, they will not be able to find the set of stairs that leads to the lower floors."

The voiced belonged to none other than Monokuma himself. "There is, however, an elevator that can transport you between floors." This gave me small hope that was washed away only seconds later."Buuut-," his voice trailed off as if he had gotten bored already,"the elevator can only be activated by me. I suggest everyone give up now and skip straight to the killing." My heart skipped a beat.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There truly was no escape without a murder happening, and I was sure someone would break eventually. It was only a matter of time and a test of patience.

In that case, I knew I wasn't safe roaming around on my own, but I didn't know where to hide.

The voice rang out over the speaker once more. "The rooms you woke up in will be your bedrooms where you go to sleep at night. I made sure to fix up everyone's room a little bit to make it more livable. The rooms can be locked, but do not have a key, so if you get locked out there's nothing that can be done about it. The only alternate solution is to take someone else's room-after they've already died of course. Enjoy your comfortable stay."

Static popped from the speaker and this let us know Monokuma was done speaking. My only safe spot was my bedroom. Anywhere else I was at risk of being killed. I quickly rushed towards the rooms and headed into the last room to the left where I crawled out from. I quickly shut and locked the door, and on second glance I noticed the minor "redecorating" Monokuma had done. For starters, there was a door now. Before I could have sworn these rooms contained empty door frames. There's no way a person could put up doors on all rooms in that short amount of time. I chalked it up as a side effect of the drugs and hallucination.

The bed was the same, except it had been straightened up. There was a new tv screen built into the wall that had never been there before. The shackle that had been there earlier had disappeared. This was strange as it was extremely difficult to remove something built into the wall like that. There was an added desk and a rusted metal chair, but not much else had changed about the room. It was livable-though not too comfy like Monokuma had proclaimed. The only thing I dreaded was having to leave for food and to use the bathroom.

The clock was ticking down. I was worried how long it would be until someone was murdered.

* * *

I don't know how long I had been sitting there contemplating all the the murders that were possible. For a second, I wondered whether I had already lost it. I must have been locked up inside an asylum and this was my mind's way of torturing me. I had to have had plenty screws loose.

A voice kept repeating through my head over and over. "Are you a psycho bitch or what?"

Are you a psycho bitch?

That was my subconscious warning me I was in fact crazy, and I needed to wake up and face reality.

*KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.*

I was so deep in thought that I jumped and fell off my bed.

I had hesitated on whether or not I should open the door. It could be a trap for someone to swoop in and kill me, lock the door behind me, and no one would ever know the difference. Then, my killer would escape because no one would ever know I had been murdered.

"It's Hotaru. Open up!"

Damn, what is she doing here? How does she even know this room is mine?

I got up and reached for the door. I knew I could trust Hotaru. I could feel it in my gut, but for some reason I still hesitated with my hand hovering over the rusty doorknob.

"OPEN UP!" She shrieked from the other side.

I knew now why I had hesitated. It was because in my gut I knew she was a crazy person. She is more insane than me. Without being able to control it, my hand automatically opened the door and I stood there frozen at the mistake I had just made.

Hotaru stared blankly back at me. But she wasn't visibly armed, so I had nothing to worry about...Or so I had hoped.

"You look like you've seen a dead body," She said.

I couldn't tell if she was making a bad joke or was being completely serious. Either way, her face remained emotionless so I couldn't read her intentions.

"Okay. So what do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk. I'm lonely here." She said in that quiet, emotionless voice.

This kid creeped me out by just her stare alone. Was she even human? Those cold, chrome white eyes made my body feel like ice. I was looking at a natural born killer, and her appearance alone would have made you think otherwise. Then, you get a look at those eyes and you realize just moments before death that she was the killer all along. I shivered in my skin.

"I actually have something I wanted to show you." she said.

I shivered again. She was about to lead me into an empty room and kill me. I knew how this was going to work. A killing game starts and the first person you got to trust you is the first person you kill, because you know you can get them off guard. Then again, I knew she couldn't catch me off guard because I was expecting it. I was ready for it and since she was slightly shorter than me I could defend myself if I needed to. I did have a pair of swords, after all. Although, in that case, I'm sure everyone would figure out it was me by the wounds and I would never be able to get out of here

I followed her anyway, readying myself if she did decide to attack me.

She lead me down the hallway that branched off to the right of the intersection. I had never been down this path before.

"Where are you leading me to?" I asked

"You'll see. Just trust me," she said.

I took in a deep breath. I really wanted to trust her, but her actions up to now made me question my trust in her. I wasn't even sure if she trusted me, or if she was just manipulating me to use me as a scapegoat for later purposes.

"Stop freaking out. You're acting like I'm leading you into a trap or something."

Holy hell, she read my mind. "Are you some kind of psychic?"

"No," she said, "I don't even have a talent, actually."

"What?" I said. I wasn't sure why this was relevant. Our talents had nothing to do with why we were here.

"You may be thinking that what I said had no relevance to what is going on, but it will make sense later."

I was beyond creeped out. I was in the situation where you feel like you've been thrown in an alternate dimension, and you begin to question what's real and what's not. It feels like floating on open air. I guess it doesn't make sense to most people, but I had been thrown into the Twilight Zone so nothing was suppose to make sense anyways.

I managed to form a coherent sentence. "You claim you aren't a psychic, but you are answering my thoughts like you know what I'm thinking."

"I'm not lying. I really can't read your thoughts," she said.

"Then how?"

"Body language, I guess," she answered, not sure of herself.

Body language? She had her back turned to me as we walked so there was no way she could pick up on my body signs.

"You claim you have no talent. What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I was brought here because I'm a mental case, but that's not really a talent if you ask me," she said.

I had prepared other questions for her, but never got to ask them when we approached a set of doors. Upon entering them, the first thing I set my eyes upon was was a giant machine connected to the building. It was hard to miss. This large object was the only thing occupying the room, and so it was difficult not to stare at it because it was so bizarre looking. I had no clue what it was.

"What do you think that thing is?" I said.

"I'm not sure, but with the filters and empty space inside I think its an air purifier." she said.

"Air purifier? What is something like that doing here?"

"To purify the air, obviously." she said.

"That's not what I meant. I meant why would we need an air purifier in the first place?"

"I don't know." she said. I didn't know either. Everything was already out of place, and now we had this to add to the list of questions all of us had.

"That's all I wanted to show you. I thought it'd be better if someone else besides myself knew about this." she said.

"Perhaps we will learn more about it in the future. For now, there's not much we can do." And with that I left the room. From there I wasn't sure where I was going. I had laid in my room for hours, and I didn't want to go back to such a place where I sat in desperation. I also did not want to stick around too long by myself where I was vulnerable.

 _How long is it going to take you to realize you are a Dualwielder, and you_ can _use those swords for protection?_

That was right. I mean it had crossed my mind before, but all of this craziness at once had distracted me from how proficient I could use swords. Even if someone did try to attack me, no matter how big or tall they were, I still had the advantage since I was the only one who carried weapons. Worrying about being murdered was futile at this point. I was more likely to be the killer instead...not that I had contemplated on killing anyone or anything. It was just a possibility at this point as a self defense option, and that was it. I would never take anyone's life without a justified cause. Thinking about this wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I shook the thoughts from my mind.

* * *

I couldn't help but feel like I needed someone to talk to. I usually liked being alone, but in this kind of situation I needed someone to keep me sane, and Hotaru clearly couldn't help in that department. I headed towards the areas I haven't investigated yet.

I couldn't find anyone. I went through almost all of the rooms, and ran into no one. Where did they all go? It was as if they vanished, or-.

Or they were all just figments of my imagination that I invented to help me cope with this situation. I wasn't sure of anything anymore. I rushed through a set of doors that were unfamiliar and my face ran into something firm. What the-?

"Kokoro. You can walk." A familiar voice said.

I peered upwards to notice Jun staring right into my face. He was what I had ran into upon entering the room. I felt embarrassed and stupid. It was then that I realized I haven't said anything yet.

"That's excellent that you recovered. It makes me happy to see you are better." he said.

I remained silent. I didn't know what to say to him. "T-thanks." I guess? Was that even the right thing to say?

He rested his hand on my shoulder. "You seem unnerved. Would you like to hang out and relax?"

"S-sure."

He led me to the cafeteria area, and handed me a snack. "Eat this. I'm sure you haven't had anything to eat since yesterday."

Without a word, I opened it and stuffed it in my mouth. I hadn't realized how hungry I was before.

Jun watched me eat and smiled. "That's better. How are you doing now?"

I processed the question, searching for a proper answer. "I guess I'm okay now."

He looked at me some more. An unassured look crossed his face.

"Truly, I'm fine." I said. He didn't answer. Instead, he kept looking at my face. I felt uneasy again and choked up over what to say.

"Sorry," he said,"I just couldn't help but to look at your pretty face for a little bit. It's a little calming to be around you at a time like this."

Huh? That was not what I was expecting at all.

It took a few seconds for me to feel the heat in my face and to register in my mind that I was blushing.

"You're cute when you do that." he said.

Was he flirting with me?

"I-," I cut off.

He reached over and clutched my hand in his. "It's all right. You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and that you were getting what you needed. I didn't want you to collapse again."

More silence ensued.

"I have a feeling like I should protect you. Like a big brother protects his little sister, you know. That's the only way I can describe it." he said.

"I understand." I said without realizing it. "Have you ever felt _weird_ at all while being here?"

"I think we all have," he answered,"but I'm sure its just the situation and environment we're in."

It was more than that, but I couldn't place the sensation. Like Déjà vu almost.

Me and Jun hung out some more, and he told me what he could remember about himself. He mentioned he had a little sister in middle school named Saya, and that he was very protective over her. His mother had died when he was young, and his father was always gone so he had to take care of her most of the time. He had applied to a top notch University, and wanted to become a Lawyer, but now he didn't have the chance unless we escaped.

When it came time for me to tell some things about myself, I clenched up. My mind felt foggy and clouded just like it had earlier.

"I can't remember anything about myself, except for my name and talent." I told him.

"You're the only person here who can't remember anything."

At first I thought it was a question. Then, I quickly grasped that it was actually being stated. "What?"

"Before you came crawling into the warehouse room all of us were in, we talked to each other a little bit. We had all remembered our family and personal lives, but you...you can't seem to remember anything for some reason."

"Whenever I try to remember, my mind gets hazy and clouds over." I said.

"Like the after effects of being drugged?" he said. I clenched my hands together.

"Yeah." I said. How did he know that?

The long day had tired me out, and my eyelids grew heavy.

"Let me walk you back to your room. I can tell you're getting sleepy." he said as he helped me up.

It felt like a while until we finally reached my room. He opened the door for me and helped me into bed. With my back to him I could hear him turn the lock on the door and close it behind him, locking out anyone from getting in. I dozed off, knowing that Jun was the only person I could trust for now.

* * *

I couldn't tell if it was morning, but I awoke in my bed where I remember. I wasn't sure if being with Jun was just a dream, but I knew it wasn't since I was here now.

Suddenly, the tv blared on with a ringing noise, and a face appeared. It looked like a monochromatic bear split into two different colors. I nearly vomited.

"Will everyone please proceed to the warehouse. I have something I would like to show you all."

With that, the tv quickly shut off just as quick as it had turned on. I guess I had no choice and headed to the warehouse. I came in contact with no one, so I assumed they had already been inside the warehouse already. My assumption was correct when I opened the doors.

"Oh, Kokoro! Finally, you've arrived!" Ayane jumped in joy.

It was nice to see someone so upbeat. It almost made me happy to be here. _Almost_.

I joined the group and waited for Monokuma to make his announcement.

"Ahem. I would like everyone to view the files I have laid out for them. You will find them laying in the chair in front of you."

Surely enough, there were a stack of vanilla folders sitting in a chair nearby. Someone approached it and looked inside. "Guys you have to get a look at this," they said grabbing the rest of them and handing them out. There were just enough for each of us, leaving none left over.

I opened up the folder. There was nothing really special about it. It just listed everyone's names and what their talent was.

Kokoro-Dualwielding/ Hanoka-Strategic Thinker/ Miu-Scientist/ Rose-Enhanced sense of smell/ Tomomi-Astral Projection/ Hotaru-Mental Case/ Ayane-Punk Rocker/ Kohaku-Swift footed/ Clover-Lip Reading/ Owen-Chess Player/ Jun-Exceptional Memory/ Shouta-Sign Language/ Daichi-Sleight of hand/ Takeshi-Voice Throwing/ Nobuyuki-Survivalist/ Haru-dead body photo collector/ Callum-Silver tongued/ Seung-Hitman.

There wasn't much to it. It was as plain as that. Then a thought pressed itself into my head. _You may be thinking that what I said had no relevance to what is going on, but it will make sense later._ The talents being a part of this game wasn't any clearer to me now than it was before. Sure, Hotaru had been right about our talents being a piece of the puzzle, but I didn't know **_how_** they connected.

Everyone looked at each other out of caution and uneasiness. I think at that point everyone else but me figured out how our talents were linked, and Monokuma confirmed it for them with his next sentence.

"These are to help make the next Trial easy for you. Use it to your advantage, because it may help catch the murderer."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading guys, that's the end of the second chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. I will try to post the next chapter tomorrow, but I'm a little stumped on how to make the interactions between people more enjoyable. I don't want to make it boring where people are just talking and investigating the rooms, so I am happy to any suggestions you post in the comments. What would you like to see next?**


	4. First Investigation

There that word was again. Murder. Though I don't understand why Monokuma was so hellbent on watching us kill each other.

"What do you mean in the _next trial_? We just have to kill to get out, right?" Daichi said.

A laugh filled our ears. "Whoever kills must go through a class trial. It won't be as simple as killing and getting away. That would make it too easy."

That relieved me somewhat. It meant that it was harder to escape, and made it less likely that someone would kill. Though, I was still skeptical. There were enough lunatics here that would do _anything_ to survive...more _specifically_ Hotaru.

"And then what? Let's say the killer doesn't win the class trial. What happens afterwards?" Takeshi asked.

"I can't divulge that information yet. I will explain it more when the trial starts." The speaker popped and the room went silent again. He was so assured that someone would kill. The only reason he would probably make us think that is if he was planning on killing someone in the group, and then blame it on one of us when no one had done it . He was playing a sick mind game with us to see if we would come to distrust each other. I kept looking the file over and over again hoping to come across some new information, but I knew my attempt wasn't going to find anything. Monokuma had made it so simple. He laid the plainest _evidence_ out in front of us, trying to put through our heads that it would be important in the next class trial. But- there was no guarantee of a class trial, was there? Somewhere in my gut I knew I was just lying to myself. Whether I liked it or not, someone was going to kill sooner or later. I needed to wipe the denial out of my mind and prepare for the inevitable. It was almost certain that I would have to use all of my mental power. I needed to figure out how this file was going to be _evidence_ , but it was too simple to be _evidence_ as far as I could tell.

The only way I would figure it out is if I got to know everyone in and out, but that was going to take time. I didn't have time to get to know everyone when the murder was going to go down soon. What I had to do was choose who to hang out with carefully, and hope that it would benefit me. I didn't have much choice when Koharu came up to me with a new friend by her side. I was surprised to see it was, none other than...Hotaru. It shocked me to see someone as nice as Koharu getting along with a weirdo like her. Then again, the saying goes that the small Firefly flies in the heart of Spring. Or maybe I just made that up because of their names having some correlations to each other.

"Hotaru suggested that the three of us bond with each other some more. I would like to get to become friends with you all." Koharu smiled.

This kid was adorable. Though, Hotaru being there in my presence made the situation uncomfortable.

"There's not much to do around here. We were put here to suffer, y'know." Hotaru said, making the atmosphere heavy again. Did she enjoy doing this to people or is she just naturally a mood killer?

"Ayane and I were going to visit the art room, but Ayane said she had some things she needed to do. You are the only other person I really know, so I felt more comfortable hanging out with you." Koharu said, then added, "I'm not that great with people."

I remember earlier that she had quickly left with Ayane. I wonder if they were going back to the art room or were up to something else, but decided not to ask.

"Actually," Koharu broke my thought, "I would like to visit another room, because I had questions about it."

It didn't take long for her to show us what she was talking about.

* * *

The room was nothing out of the ordinary. At least to me it wasn't, but it intrigued Koharu for some reason. It was a dirty old library with thin bookshelves lining each wall. A few small tables were scattered about with a couple of chairs that looked to be missing. It was so damp and rank smelling that I had to cover my nose. For someone like Koharu, I couldn't understand why she would be interested in books. She looked more like a kunoichi than a bookworm.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Hotaru's monotone voice said what I had been thinking. She never ceased to freak me out every time she opened her mouth to say something, but this time I would have to agree with her. The odor was pungent enough to kill. The wood must have been rotting for it to be this bad.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "its not necessarily the library I wanted to show you."

Her hand reached forward a grabbed a slim object. I couldn't tell what it was until she opened it. It contained pictures of people I had never seen before.

"A yearbook?"

"I don't think so." she answered.

"Then what?"

"I looks more like a collection of files. Like someone's checking up on someone, only instead of it being written in text, it's pictures. This is what some agencies use. I think. They keep track on their client and what they do."

She flipped through the pages until she stopped at a page in the middle. This was what she probably wanted to show us, and after viewing it I could understand why. There, smack dab and center, was Seung holding a rifle. I almost didn't recognize him because he was wearing sunglasses in the photo. They made it hard to see part of his face. He wore his usual business attire, although he looked younger.

How recent is this photo? What is it doing here? How did it get here? There was still a lot of questions piling up and still no answers. If we were all strangers, and no one had been here until yesterday, then how did someone get these pictures of Seung? It couldn't be. Was Seung...the one behind all of this?

"He's a Hitman, right?" Hotaru spoke up.

I recalled from the files Monokuma had given us that Seung's listed talent was Hitman, so maybe Hotaru was on to something.

"It makes sense. He's the Ultimate Hitman, and he puts us here as a test to see how well he can kill us off." I said.

"No." Hotaru was more than nonchalant about it. She sounded certain of herself.

"What?"

"I believe that would make it too obvious. If he truly were the one behind all of this, I bet he wouldn't make it this easy for us to find out." she replied.

"I guess you're right, but..." I trailed off. It could have been a method of reverse psychology to make us think that it wasn't him by putting himself on the spot. We were in the library for what seemed like 5 hours, flipping through all of the pages and asking questions that we knew couldn't be answered.

"All the questions will have to hold, I really have to pee!" Koharu jumped up and did a small dance to try to hold it in. "Can someone come with me? I'm scared to roam around on my own."

"Fine." Hotaru said.

Koharu let out a giggle and held onto Hotaru's arm as they left to go to the bathroom. _That was strange_. I heaved out a heavy sign and flipped through the book some more. There wasn't anyone in particular that stood out to me. The only person that was familiar was Seung, and I still wasn't any closer to figuring out why he was in this book.

It wasn't long before I heard an ear piercing scream. The sound came from the other end of the floor, so it must have been ear drum shattering to be able to reach this far of the building. Instincts kicked in and I rushed to where the sound had originated. It took me about 25 minutes to reach the Infirmary, where everyone had already rushed to before me. I wasn't prepared for what hit me next.

There, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, was Ayane.

 **Student: Ayane / Status: DEAD**

* * *

 **Investigation**

I couldn't believe my eyes. In just a span of minutes, a close friend of mine was killed. By one of us, no doubt. It took a lot of strength to compose myself and view the body one more time. Her neck had been sliced wide open. The scalpel that had done the deed was still protruding out of her neck. A second scalpel had sliced open her right leg, and also still remained stabbed deep into the muscle. My throat and stomach tightened from the sick sight. I choked back tears and swallowed every ounce of emotions that tried to make their way through. I was going to vomit.

My foot stepped forward to get a better look. I knew I was going to have to prepare for this moment, and now was not the time to wallow in misery. Her face had a look of horror upon it. Those dead eyes that had been full of life moments before were wide open and stared up as if she was still experiencing her death. She didn't look human anymore, or at least her face didn't.

I was so shocked that I didn't notice a few others had done some investigating of their own. Jun made his way over to the bed Ayane had been killed by. He kneeled down to get a closer look at something I could not see. My eyes shot straight at the body again, and it was then that I tried to do a more careful investigation. I looked at her arms and wrists, but nothing was any different than before. My eyes looked back at Jun again. He noticed me staring at him but said nothing. Instead, he stood up and walked over to me, then kneeled down towards the body. His eyes examined her neck this time.

"There's blood near the leg of the bed." he said suddenly.

I didn't know what he was trying to tell me by this. Of course there was blood by the leg of the bed, the girl's artery had been sliced open so there would have been blood everywhere. Blood was normal. In fact if there wasn't any blood it would have made it more suspicious.

"I'm sure it's not that important, though," he second guessed himself, "it could have just trailed over when her neck was cut open."

I looked over to the other side of the room and saw a square piece on the floor. Was it metal?

"Hold on." I told him.

On further inspection, I noticed the metal square was the piece of a vent that had been broken off. Directly above the piece was an air vent that was big enough for anyone of us to crawl through. It was also low enough to where standing on one of the beds was enough to boost someone up.

"Do you think someone came in from the vent and killed her?" Jun's voice startled me. I wasn't expecting him to be right behind me.

"It seems that way."

"I want to see something." he told me. I believe he was subtly telling me to follow him so we could confirm something together. Looking back, I could see Koharu was shaking in fear and tears streamed down her face. Ayane was her best friend here, and she had just lost the closest person to her. I couldn't blame her for the way she was feeling. Everyone stood around like idiots, and the only other people I saw actually investigating were; Owen, Tomomi, Hotaru, and Hanoka.

I followed Jun out of the room, into the hallway.

"What are you on to?"

"Do you see the air vent on the ceiling?" he asked.

"Yes."

He signed. I must have came off as uninvolved at this point.

"The killer obviously used the vent to get to the Infirmary. I can't explain any other reason why that vent piece would be there."

He looked back up at it, then walked forward as if trying to follow it.

"We just need to figure out the places it leads to, so we can find a potential suspect, and possibly even the killer." he pointed out.

The only rooms of significance that the vent led to were; the art room, the cafeteria, and the hallway to the bedrooms.

"Now we need to question people to find out where they were before the time of the murder."

"Are you sure they wouldn't just be lying about it? Especially if they were trying to cover up the murder. It would make more sense that telling where they were before the murder would give themselves away, so they would go to great lengths to cover it up." I said.

"You have a point..." he trailed off.

"Is there anything else out of the ordinary that you noticed?" I asked. "We need to know everything we can for this Trial."

"Just the blood splatter by the bed. It doesn't match up with the blood beside the body." he answered.

"But you just said-"

"I know, but I'm not sure if my assumption is correct. I don't want to throw anyone off during the trial, so I'll keep it to myself unless it comes up."

"Do you have any speculations on who you think the murderer is?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Well, there is one person. Putting the blame on them during the trial will just cloud my judgement though. I don't want to falsely accuse someone."

"Just speak your mind." I said.

He let out another sign. "I have a feeling it's Hotaru."

I didn't know if I should be shocked or if I should laugh. "I thought the same thing. What's your reason for thinking it's her?"

"She has this creepy aura around her..." so he had the same impression of her that I had. "She also doesn't react to anything like a normal person. It's like she doesn't care that Ayane is dead."

"Great minds do think alike."

"What?" he said.

"Nothing, it's just...nevermind." I blushed.

"Anyway, we need to do more investigating to see if something new surfaces. Standing here will not bring the killer to light."

He made his way back to the Infirmary, to which almost everyone had almost cleared out of. I guess most of the group couldn't handle seeing the dead body of someone they once knew. There was not much we could do, as our time was cut short.

 _ **Ding dong, dong ding**_

"Everyone make your way down to the elevator. You'll find it along the hallway to the left of the Infirmary. The class trial is about to begin!" Monokuma blurted through the speakers.

 _Shit!_ I didn't get to do much investigating. The information I had wasn't conclusive enough to figure out who the killer was. Jun placed his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. We'll figure it out once we get there. Don't lose hope now."

All 18 of us headed down the grim hallway that led to the elevator Monokuma told us about. When it came in sight, it reminded me of an old time-y kind of elevator-the ones that didn't have a solid metal door. The door had line gaps from top to bottom where you could see through to the inside, and the metal was heavily rusted from old age. It was one of those sliding doors that you had to push yourself instead of there being a button to do it for you. Upon entering it, I could see there were 7 floors, with the 1st one being a basement. No one had to push anything. The 1st floor button lit up on its own, and it took us down to our destination. I figured it was Monokuma controlling it.

Thoughts swarmed around my head. Was I going to be able to catch the killer? I didn't have the evidence I needed and I could only hope someone else found enough to come to a conclusion.

It seemed like forever before the elevator came to a halt. I slid the elevator doors open and we all stepped out into a large room that was empty except for a tv screen built into the wall on the left. The screen flickered on and Monokuma's face appaeared. "Would you all stand on the squares, please."

No one had noticed the dark grey squares in the middle of the floor until Monokuma had mentioned it. There were exactly 18 of them for us to stand on. Still, nobody stepped forward.

"Don't be shy. You can choose any square you want."

I made the first step, and stood over the first square nearest the elevator. Jun followed behind, standing over a square to the right of mine. Soon, every one else followed suit and chose their square. As expected, Hotaru chose the square to the left of mine. She was nearly only a foot or so away from me, and it creeped me out.

I focused on the screen once more. Monokuma was going to participate in the trials by using surveillance to watch the trial, and talk to us through the monitor.

"Let the class trial begin! But, one more piece of evidence I'll give to you is the Monokuma file!"

A long list of text appeared on the screen where his face used to be, but we could still hear his voice.

"Well, it's not really a ' _file'_ per say. Be grateful, it's the only evidence I can hand out in the trial."

The screen read

 **Student: Ayane / Status: DEAD**

 **Cause of Death: severe blood loss from the jugular**

 **Weapon used: scalpel**

 **Time of Death: 11 a.m. in the morning**

 **Extra: scalpel cut deep into the right leg**

I took in a deep breath. This was something I was not ready for. I wasn't sure if we were going to find the killer, or if all of us were doomed.


	5. First Class Trial (Part A)

**In reply to dragonngo: Thanks for bringing that up. I looked at some of the Beta stuff for Distrust and I liked it so I sort of based this story off of it. I don't know how well it will turn out but I'm trying my best to make it enjoyable. :)**

* * *

"Now about that information you couldn't tell us earlier," I said, voice quivering. The sentence never got finished.

"I just wanted to tell you, that whoever loses the trial dies!" Monokuma cackled in laughter.

"What the HELL?!" I almost hadn't realized that the words had come out of my mouth.

"I don't like this! I don't like this! Don't like this - don't like this - don't like this!" Hotaru screamed, gripping onto her scalp like she was going to rip out her hair.

"If you can manage to find the killer, the killer dies and the rest of you live - BUT if you all guess wrong, the killer escapes and you all die!"

That was putting it bluntly. So if we all screwed up we were all dead - except the killer, of course. My hands quivered at my side. 16 of us were doomed. _Think. Think. Try to recollect the crime scene and anything out of the ordinary._ I ran the evidence I had collected through my head again.

 **Evidence / Truth Bullets**

 _ **#1: Two scalpels were used.**_

 _ **#2: There's a splatter of blood by the leg of the bed.**_

 _ **#3: The Air vent was used as a means to enter and escape unnoticed.**_

-And that was all I knew. It definitely wasn't enough to figure out anything, so I could only rely on my other classmates.

"Let the trial begin!" Monokuma said in a jeering voice.

"Can we even be so sure that one of us killed Ayane? How do we know Monokuma didn't kill her?" Tomomi questioned.

"Let's not talk about the body, _please_!" Koharu cried.

"I can assure that it was one of you. I am not the killer in this case," Monokuma asserted.

"Let's assume he's telling the truth for a second," I heard Owen speak for the first time, "then one of us is a cold blooded killer."

"We get that, but we don't have anything to go on. I only have 3 pieces of evidence to support this case," I said.

"Then we'll just have to rely on others to give their pieces of evidence as well. I'm sure there's more to this case than meets the eye," Tomomi signed, looking down with her fingers to her chin.

"I-I...I," Koharu stuttered.

"Go ahead," I eased her on.

"I...when _we_ were in the Infirmary keeping watch of Kokoro, I happened to notice a tray full of scalpels sitting on the counter. A-a-and when we discovered Ayane's body, I noticed the two scalpels were missing. They must have been used to kill her."

" _Obviously_ they were used to kill her. Scalpels are suppose to be in Infirmaries," Daichi scolded her. "That doesn't help us get anywhere. _So_ _what_ if the scalpels went missing?"

"No, that's plenty," Hotaru cut through the atmosphere with her unsettling voice.

"What are you getting that we're somehow missing?" I asked.

She didn't answer. Instead, she looked down at her feet in solemnity. If she was leading us astray she was doing a good job at it.

"I think what she's trying to say is that if the weapons were really taken from the scene of the crime, then the murderer either snagged them when Ayane wasn't looking, or got them prior to Ayane entering the Infirmary," Owen cleared the confusion for us.

"But that means that anyone of us could have gotten the weapons yesterday! No one has an alibi!" Shouta shouted in rage.

I heard someone huff, as if they had figured it out on this piece of evidence alone.

"If that someone had the chance to grab the weapons while in the infirmary, then that means the two suspects are Koharu and Kokoro," Takeshi stated, his red eye gleaming. When did word of me blacking out travel so fast?

"What?-" I wanted to lash out and punch him. I didn't kill Ayane anymore than Koharu did. It then clicked in my mind that I had a new piece of evidence - an alibi to be exact.

"I was unconscious on my stay in the Infirmary. Ayane and Koharu helped me into one of the beds after discovering I had collapsed, and Koharu couldn't have killed her either."

"How do you figure," Takeshi held a sinister grin on his face.

I thought back to the murder and the moments just before. "Koharu was in the bathroom at the time of Ayane's discovery. There was no way she could have escaped to kill Ayane, and she even has a witness. Hotaru went with her to the bathroom so she can testify to that!"

"It's true," Hotaru said, almost as if on cue.

"Then where does that lead us? I think the more we talk the more we just complicate this trial for ourselves," Tomomi said, biting her thumbnail.

"Well..." Owen spoke up, "I was outside the Infirmary early this morning at 6 am, and didn't leave until around 10:45 am. No one entered or left the Infirmary during this time."

"So if Ayane died at 11 am, and you saw no one enter before that, then that would only give the killer a 15 minute window to get in and out. Is it even possible for someone to murder her that fast with no one noticing?" Rose raised a question of her own.

"That would mean someone was waiting for the right moment to kill her. They saw Owen leave and decided it was their time to strike. Maybe they didn't need 15 minutes because they were already hiding," Haru said so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

"But where? There's no where to hide inside the Infirmary without being noticed, and Owen claimed he didn't see anyone suspicious other than Ayane," Tomomi crushed the possibility.

"Speaking of which! Why _exactly_ were you hanging outside the Infirmary for that long?" Miu asked.

Owen exhaled loudly. "I was sitting in a chair... _reading_ a book. I just _happened_ to have been near the Infirmary while... _reading."_ For a moment I thought I saw him blush. It quickly faded and his face returned to it's normal expression.

"That's a lie. What were you _really_ doing?" Miu pressed him some more. He would not give a straight answer,and everyone could tell he was obviously lying.

"I _bet_ he's the k-k-killer!" Koharu wailed.

"Agreed," Clover said.

"So is everyone ready to vote?" Monokuma chimed in with that eerie voice.

"Y-yes!" Nobuyuki seemingly answered for all of us.

"I didn't do it you imbeciles!" Owen shouted.

"Alright! Cast in your votes an-"

"Wait just a minute!" Jun called out.

"Hmmm...?"

"If Owen's account is what really happened, then I want him to explain why he was there," Jun said.

"That's the thing! I can't tell you or I'll die from embarrassment!"

"Save it! We know you did it so admit it!" Callum said.

"You are not helping anything," Jun told him, "Owen if you just tell us then we can clear our suspicion of you."

"Okay! I'll spill it!" Owen cried. "I was hanging out by the Infirmary for so long because...I."

"Spit it out already!" Clover spat.

"It's because I admired miss Ayane," Owen blushed once more. "I was watching her but I didn't know how to approach her." For someone who enjoyed mocking others, this came as a surprise to me.

"Let's move on," Jun said.

"Moving back towards what Haru had said earlier, the killer was probably hiding before they killed Ayane. This explains how they did it in such a short amount of time."

"I still don't understand. If they didn't enter the Infirmary shortly before killing her, then where exactly did they hide?" Rose asked.

That one was almost too easy. "They hid in the air vent," I said.

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing that inside the Infirmary," Tomomi chuckled.

"They crawled into the air vent and waited for Owen to leave the area, then made their attack, and crawled back into the air vent. It wouldn't have taken much time, actually," Jun added.

"I've been meaning to ask earlier but ran out of time. Where were all of you just before the murder?" I looked at everyone suspiciously.

"Me, Haru, Rose and Hanoka teamed up and we were in the art room just before running down to the crime scene," Tomomi was the first to answer.

"I was with Daichi, and we were both walking down the hallway leading from the Cafeteria when we heard the scream," Takeshi snorted.

"Let's see," Miu tried to recall, "I would have to say I was still inside my room before the murder. I had slept in late."

"I was in the Warehouse room with Nobuyuki, Shouta, and Seung," Jun answered, leaving everyone to have an alibi on where they were.

There was one thing that remained certain, though. One of those people that were anywhere near the art room, cafeteria, or bedroom hallways was the murderer. That left only 7 suspicious people that had the chance to crawl through the vents and kill Ayane.

"That makes Daichi, Takeshi, Rose, Tomomi, Hanoka, Haru, and Miu a suspect," I claimed.

"WHAT? Sense when was I a suspect?" Tomomi was outraged.

"Y-yeah...I am certain that me and the three others I was with are innocent," Rose said.

"Out of all the time we were together - up until discovering Ayane's body, no one had left the group. All four of us were together the whole time," Tomomi assured me.

"That still leaves 3 others who could be the only possible killers. Daichi, Takeshi, and Miu - what do you have to say for yourselves?" I said.

"I told you already that I was asleep in my room! How many times do I have to repeat myself?" Miu said, her voice starting to get hostile.

"Me and Daichi were together the whole time, and none of us left each other's sight either," Takeshi grinned, almost as if he were purposefully pushing the idea of Miu being the killer.

"So that only leaves Miu! She must be the killer!" Clover gasped.

"Is everyone ready to vote now?" Monokuma interrupted the trial once more.

"Our lives are on the line here. We can not afford to take the risk when there are still questions that haven't been answered. Everything still hasn't added up, yet," Jun said.

"Like, how Miu managed to get her hands on the weapons when she wasn't anywhere near the Infirmary yesterday or before the body discovery today." I wasn't sure if that was correct, but I stated it anyway because I never saw her once around the infirmary part of the floor.

"She could have just improvised and grabbed them after exiting the vent," Takeshi scowled.

"I have never laid my hands on those scalpels before!" Miu screamed.

"Ayane could have had her back turned and Miu grabbed them then," Shouta added.

"I don't think so," Rose said, "Miu is wearing heels and heels make a loud clicking sound when hitting the ground."

"That's not a sure way of determining on whether she did it. She could have removed her shoes before jumping down from the vent. It is _that_ easy," Daichi said, condescending to not just Rose, but all of us.

"No, I believe Kokoro is on to something." It was the first time during this trial that I heard Hanoka speak. She was one of the students who had actually investigated during the body discovery, and she must have found something. This could be our lucky break.

"Although I was not around or inside of the infirmary within the past two days, I am certain that Miu never stepped foot near them herself," Hotaru stated.

"Oh please, do tell me you have a good reason for _knowing_ that," Takeshi butted in.

A flicker of a smile curled across Hanoka's face, then faded just as fast as it appeared. "I was with Miu most of the time yesterday and today, until we split up and I went to the art room. It's not my place to put this out there, but it needs to be said if it will clear her of suspicion. Miu had gotten ill shortly after Monokuma's announcement. I believe it was due to a combination of stress and the environment, but I had walked her back to her room on both days. I am positive she couldn't have been to the Infirmary, since she did not have the chance to grab the weapons then. If anyone is to blame here, I would have to cast my eye on someone else other than Miu." If Daichi wasn't so stuck up, this would have put him in his place. However; he refused to back down.

"Are you _blaming Takeshi_ and me?!" Daichi was starting to break down now.

"No, I am simply saying that it is a _possibility_ ," Hanoka said.

" _You're_ a crazy person, too - _much_ like Kokoro," Takeshi steered the conversation towards me.

"That actually raises a question," Jun said abruptly.

" _Enough_ questions! Let's _vote_ already!" Daichi said.

Ignoring Daichi's frantic shouting, Jun spoke again. "I don't know why the question didn't surface earlier, but I want to ask it now so everyone can get a good idea of how this case went down. Are accomplices allowed?"

"Hehehe, I don't know what you mean there Jun-kun!" Monokuma tried to play coy.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean. Do you allow more than one murderer, or at least and accomplice to a murder?"

"Okay, okay! Yes! Accomplices _are_ allowed!"

"That's what I figured," Jun muttered to himself.

"I think that clears up this trial," Hanoka said.

I didn't understand it at first, but after running every bit of information through my head, I pieced it together on my own. It was starting to make sense now on why Daichi and Takeshi were trying to cover for each other. I glared over at them. Unbelievable. They had worked together to murder Ayane, and had even complicated the case more with their cover story. And to top it off, they were near the cafeteria before the murder, so it was perfect for them to get access to the air vent.

"Okay, Daichi and Takeshi! Confess now!" I called them out.

 **First class trial part A is finished.**

* * *

 **[Part B] will be continued in the next chapter. I'm sorry if it was too short, but thank you for reading anyway!**

 **Please leave feedback on what I'm doing wrong and how I can improve the story. Reviews are welcome.**


	6. First Class Trial (Part B)

They were shocked at my sudden outburst. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long before one of them snapped back.

"Hmmph, if you think we did it then where's your proof?" Takeshi glared at me.

"You were near the cafeteria _before_ the murder took place, so that makes you _extremely_ suspicious. I can't see anyone else being the murderer. You two are the only suspects left that haven't been ruled out."

Takeshi clicked his tongue in annoyance. "If that's what you're going to go on, then be my guest. I'm welcome to you killing all of us, you dumb bitch."

Dumb what? He had crossed the line, making me lose all of my patience.

"Listen, I don't have time for us to go in circles, so you can either _confess_ , or you can provide some evidence you have!"

"Yeah, we're not going to do that," Daichi laughed.

"Then we have no choice but to vote for you two."

"I don't think that's wise, Kokoro," Hanoka cut in.

"Why not?" I was more confused at this point than at the beginning of the trial.

"Because there's still something I don't understand," she said.

" _Oh,_ and what _might_ that be?" Takeshi and Daichi were having too much fun toying with us. I knew they did it, now I just had to prove it with more evidence. Though, Hanoka doesn't seem to think they are to blame.

"I found a screwdriver in the infirmary. It was lying underneath the bed, so I assume it was hidden away on purpose. Maybe the killer didn't want anyone to find it for some reason." That could have been the piece of evidence to close this case. Unfortunately, nothing was falling in to place.

"What does a screwdriver have to do with this? Ayane was killed with a scalpel, not a screwdriver," Rose pointed out.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? That screwdriver is the best piece of evidence anyone has given so far," Hotaru's ominous voice cut through our ears.

"I don't understand. It seems a screwdriver had been misplaced and all of a sudden it's considered evidence. I think this case is starting to derail a bit, and maybe someone is misleading us from the truth," Tomomi signed.

"I agree. Thinking about this is making me mentally exhausted," Shouta said.

"That's because you're a moron," Owen insulted.

"What did you say, you half-bent midget?" Shouta growled.

"Stop it! Arguing won't solve anything," Hanoka said. "We need to think this through carefully one piece at a time instead of jumping around trying to solve it all at once. Not trusting each other will only make things worse for us."

The basement room fell silent again. Hanoka was right, and her talent was what was keeping us in line and together. We needed a strategic thinker to help us through this case. I took in a deep breath and tried to think. Nothing came to me.

"Okay Hanoka, what do you think is so important with the screwdriver?" I asked.

"Well, the first thing is the fact that it was found inside the Infirmary. Screwdrivers aren't normally found inside of infirmaries, they belong inside of tool shops."

"I've been to every inch of this floor and there isn't a tool shop or any other room that is similar," Shouta said.

"Then where did they get it from?" Clover rubbed her head.

"I don't know. Maybe Monokuma can give us a little more details on the rooms around this place," Hanoka replied.

"You know what I said earlier. I am not allowed to give out any information on the case except for the Monokuma 'file'!"

"You know damn well you gave out the information earlier about accomplices being allowed. Why are you trying to cover that up now?" Owen said, starting to lose his patience, too.

Monokuma didn't answer. His face just stared blankly at us from the screen built into the wall.

"I will tell you this," he said after making us wait for a while, "there are toolboxes that have been placed inside the desks of your rooms. They contain screwdrivers and that's all I will say about it."

"Then Miu _did do it!_ She's the only one who was inside her room where she could have gotten the screwdriver." There Daichi went trying to frame her again.

"Sorry, but no," Hotaru said, "if you think back to how the air vent was, and the condition the metal plating that covers the air vent, it's safe to assume the Miu couldn't have done it."

"Also, if Miu wanted to hide the screwdriver, why would she throw it under the bed. It would have been a better idea to hide it on herself and crawl through the air vent with it instead of leaving more possible evidence for someone to find," Tomomi said.

"Wait a minute-" Tomomi was starting to realize something I did not. "It's possible that...the air vent was **never** used."

 _What?_ But the air vent _had clearly been_ used. Otherwise, the vent cover wouldn't have been unscrewed.

"Think about it for a second. The screwdriver was found **inside** the room, _underneath_ the bed, _right_? Now think about **where** the vent cover was found. **Inside** the room as well."

"Ummm?" Haru was just as confused as the rest of us. Tomomi ignored him and kept on talking.

"Recall how the killer managed to **get inside** the Infirmary in the first place. They **didn't walk** through the door, because they would have most likely been caught by Owen. Now, the **only other way** they could have gotten inside the room is through the **air vent**."

She stopped to let us think about it on our own. I wasn't sure what she was trying to imply, but I had a good gut feeling that it was going to help push this case even further. Why wasn't I capable of figuring this out?

Hotaru signed in irritation. "I guess I'll just clear this up for everyone because letting everyone figure it out on their own isn't going to get us anywhere. On an air vent cover, the screws are on the **outside**."

That made me feel like an idiot. It was right there in front of my face and I still didn't have the mentality to put it together. Although, I didn't feel too bad because there were still a few others that weren't as quick witted.

"The screws are on the outside. What does that have to do with how the killer got in?" Rose asked.

"It means you'd have to be standing **inside the infirmary** in order to unscrew the vent. If someone were to crawl in through the vent to try to get to the infirmary, they'd be stuck because they couldn't unscrew the cover. It also means that **none of us** **are** **clear of suspicion** yet," I said.

"W-what? You mean we've been going around in circles for who knows how long, and we are still back to square one?" Koharu's voice quivered.

"Not exactly," I said. I tried to form my next sentence carefully, without trying to throw out false information. "It's possible that the air vent was **_planted_** _evidence."_

"What is _'planted' evidence_?" Rose asked.

"In more simpler terms, it's false evidence that was placed at the scene of the crime to mislead the inspecting party. We were **tricked** from the start."

I let everyone have a moment to recover from their disbelief.

"Nevermind that for now," I broke the silence. I remembered Owen's question from earlier, and how Monokuma avoided it all together. He threw us off by answering the question about the screwdriver, so we would forget about why he was covering himself up.

"Even though accomplices are allowed, don't you think its a little suspicious that Monokuma would give us that information so easily? He did say at the start of the trial that the only information he could give us was the Monokuma 'file'. He also gave us the information on the screwdriver to sidetrack us from the original question."

"So you think..maybe Monokuma told us accomplices are allowed so we would assume wrong?" Jun said.

"Well, I mean, he's telling the truth about accomplices being allowed, but I think he's trying to throw us off this case by making us think an accomplice was involved this time," I said. "I hope that makes sense."

"It was clear enough. Let's assume an accomplice wasn't involved in this murder, that would mean only one person did it, and that person didn't have to be near the air vent. Who would the suspicion fall on then?" Jun looked over at me, expecting me to have an answer.

 _I believe it's Hotaru_ , Jun's voice popped up into my head. I remembered him saying that when we were in the hallway during the body discovery.

I knew I had suspected her before the trial started, but none of the evidence led up to her until now. Did she really kill Ayane? I couldn't believe someone I had come to know within the past two days would kill in cold blood. But, I remembered those cold chrome eyes of hers that cut through me like a knife. I did think she was perfect to be a killer and would go unsuspected due to her underwhelming appearance. _Did she really do it?_ I kept asking myself that. She was insane enough to do it, so I was confused on what to think of her.

"Hotaru, you had the perfect amount of time to kill Ayane." I really didn't want to call her out, but I didn't want to get us all killed by voting incorrectly.

"So you think it was me?" she signed. It was more of a sign of sadness than irritation this time.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to blame you, but we need to know the truth," I said.

She stayed quiet, much like the first time after she had spoken during the trial. I didn't know if she was trying to hide her guilt or if she was simply disappointed in my deduction skills. Either way, it was time to end this.

"After putting the other pieces of evidence together, you are the only one who had the chance to get into the infirmary and kill Ayane. You used Koharu as a chance to get away and make your plan happen, as we know the murder had been planned the previous day due to the scalpels being missing. Owen had already left at this time, so you could have easily went unnoticed. You slipped into the infirmary, killed Ayane, then quickly unscrewed the air vent cover to plant the evidence that would eventually throw us all off. You discarded the screwdriver to make things more complicated, but unfortunately for you Hanoka found it under the bed. You screamed, pretending to be Ayane, then quickly rushed back to the bathroom where you had left Koharu. No one ever suspected you, and you used the bathroom story as an alibi." I struggled to say those words. Hotaru, I really, really wished that it wasn't you, but there is no one else the evidence points to. Even though I did not know her for very long, it pained me to see her as the killer. I did not want to see anyone die, not even a psycho like her.

"I don't know what to say," Hotaru said, giving in to defeat. Or so it had seemed like she was giving in. It was hard to tell with her since she was unpredictable.

It _couldn't_ be her. It's _not_ her. I wish I could rewind time and do this all over, and maybe I could have stopped Hotaru from killing. It was a fool's hope. There was nothing I could do except vote for her and save us all. Why did she over complicate the murder? That was bugging me. I understand why someone would cover up their tracks to make them the least suspicious, and so they could save their skin, but this murder was too overly done. Would someone like her really go out of their way to mislead us this much? Then, I remembered what she had said at the start of the trial, and that had gotten me to believe she was misleading us, but now that I think about it, it hadn't been used to mislead us at all. It was her way of telling us that the murder had been planned in advanced. She gave us more information that had cleared up things that did not make sense. If she had given us that much information, then why would she have went out of her way on planting false evidence in the first place? It didn't make sense, but it still didn't change the fact that she was the killer.

"If you think it was me, then please, go ahead and vote," Hotaru said. Did she even care she was about to die?

"Of course it was you," Takeshi said, almost like he was enjoying this a bit too much. When him and Daichi are both clear of suspicion they sure do go back to taunting others. Tormenting Hotaru about it wasn't going to help things. It would have been better to just vote and let her be, so she could have peace before she died.

 _Do you really think she did it?_ That voice would not stop nagging in the back of my mind. She did it without a doubt. _Without a doubt?_ Interrogating myself inside my head wasn't going to push this case along, but saying it was her 100% without a doubt was a little silly. Actually, the only reason I suspected her was because she is the only one who had an opportunity to make a break for it without being noticed. _Then who else had a chance to 'make a break for it'_? I didn't know the answer to that. I refused to vote just yet. Just like Jun and Hanoka, I wanted to piece everything from the beginning together before I screwed everything up. I ran the evidence through my head once more.

 **Evidence / Truth Bullets**

 _ **#1: Two scalpels were used.**_

 _ **#2: There's a splatter of blood by the leg of the bed. (?) (Inconclusive)**_

 _ **(X)#3: The Air vent was used as a means to enter and escape unnoticed. (Ruled out / false evidence)**_

 _Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!_

I had forgotten about the random blood splatter by the leg of the bed. From the start, Jun and I had assumed it had come from the wound on Ayane's neck, but since the blood from her neck didn't even reach the bed, I was starting to question Ayane's death a little bit more. If the blood didn't come from the wound, then maybe...it came from the killer?

That means the killer probably had a wound on them somewhere. That would also mean that Ayane had struggled with the killer before she died, making the conclusion I had come up with earlier false. I thought she didn't struggle before her death, but the shock on her face made something clear.

"Her face had an expression of horror worn across it when we found her. She was in shock before death, meaning she must have saw her killer before she died. Maybe she struggled with the killer, and that blood by the leg of the bed belongs to the killer. I want everyone to show their arms, legs, stomach, or anything that can prove they don't have a wound from Ayane's struggle."

Everyone did as I asked, but to my surprise no one had any cuts on them. That ruled out my assumption. This was getting us nowhere. Maybe Hotaru really was the killer and it was as simple as that, and my denial was only delaying the inevitable. Was Ayane's body moved? Then that would mean the blood would have smeared across the floor. I couldn't explain the random blood splatter. This was another piece of evidence that bugged me.

"She probably didn't struggle, and that blood by the leg of the bed is more than likely Ayane's," Jun said.

"If it is her's then why is it separated from where her body was found?" Tomomi asked.

"The killer probably moved the body for some reason," Rose said.

"No, if that happened then the blood would have smeared across the floor, but it didn't. It was completely separate from the body."

"So, it's not the killer's blood is it?" Shouta sounded like he was stating it rather than asking it.

"No. It's more than likely that Ayane did see her killer, but didn't get the chance to fight back, which means there wasn't a struggle," Jun said.

"How does someone see their killer and then go without putting up a fight?" Tomomi raised her hand to her face in confusion.

"Maybe she _wanted_ to die after hanging around you losers," Daichi joked.

"That's not funny, you asshole," Owen retorted.

"Relax, midget. I was only kidding."

"Moving on back to the blood splatter," Jun cleared his throat, "if it belongs to Ayane, then we need to figure out on why it's there, and why it's not near her body."

"That's going to be impossible. Now we're just going on assumptions and not actual evidence," Tomomi said.

"Assumptions can lead to possibilities and even the truth," Jun told her.

"Yes. Whether they may be true or not, it could lead to something. No matter how weird that may seem, it's better than standing here with nothing to go on," I backed him up.

"Fine..." she trailed off in embarrassment, "does anyone have a plausible theory?"

"The blood was found by the leg of the bed, and...it belongs to Ayane," Hotaru said to herself. She was just repeating what we already knew. I wasn't one to doubt Hotaru at this point, though, so I kept to myself.

"Well, there's a scalpel in her right calf leg, so maybe it's from when she got stabbed. She was standing next to the bed, the killer slashed her leg open, and the blood splattered there," Hanoka suggested.

"Then why isn't the blood smeared? I could see that being true if she had died there by the leg of the bed, but-" Hotaru cut off, seeing something in Hanoka's assumption that could be somewhat truthful.

"It doesn't make sense either way. Her dying in a struggle doesn't explain the lack of bruises on her body and how her body was left undisturbed, but her getting her leg cut by the edge of the bed doesn't explain why there isn't a blood smear leading to her body. Which one is it?" Tomomi said, unsure of what story to lean towards.

"The better question, is why would the killer go out of their way to cut her leg open near the bed? Wouldn't they have just went straight into killing her? Ayane would have saw what they were up to a soon as they kneeled down with a scalpel."

"Or maybe they didn't have to kneel at all," I said, unsure of what I was saying.

"Did they throw it? That would mean they'd have to have good aim," Tomomi questioned my statement.

"No, I mean there's **another** way they could have sliced her leg open without approaching her, or even kneeling down," I said.

"You're not making sense," Rose said, tilting her head to the side.

"They could have **hidden under the bed** ," I suggested. I kind of felt proud for figuring this out, regardless of it being just an assumption.

"That takes us back to whether Hotaru did it. If she really did have only 15 minutes, then I doubt she could have hidden under the bed unnoticed by Ayane."

"So, Ayane had her leg sliced from someone hiding under the bed. This caused her to fall down, giving the killer an easier opening to kill her," Jun concluded.

"-And if that _is_ what happened, then we just need to figure out how Ayane crawled to the spot she died at without leaving a smear of blood."

"Did she cover up her leg to stop the blood flow as she crawled away from the bed? That's something someone would do in her situation is try to stop the blood flow as much as possible," Tomomi said.

"It's a possibility, but when I investigated the body, I didn't see any blood on her hands," Hanoka cut the probability down.

Takeshi cleared his throat, then dug through one of his pockets in search of something. Raising his hand in front of him, he held up a bloody cloth.

"What the hell is that?" I questioned. Was he the killer that was tired of the charade, and this was his way of giving up?

"It's the cloth I found on Ayane's body at the scene of the crime. I made sure to grab it before anyone noticed it," he stated.

"Why would you do that? You stole an important piece of evidence!" I yelled.

"I just wanted to make the case more... _interesting," he grinned._

"You asshole! You withheld evidence that could have made this case shorter and easier!" Owen screamed.

"Calm down, children. I was going to show this at one point or another. You really think I was going to let everyone die, myself included?"

"I wouldn't be surprised with someone like you. You would go out of your way to make sure the killer got to sit in peace and comfort just so we can run around like headless chickens for a while," Owen retorted.

"Well, until it came time to truly end this, I would have. I wasn't going to actually let the killer get away. I'm not _that_ heartless."

"I doubt that," Owen muttered.

"If you found that cloth on her body, then she used it to stop the blood flow as she crawled away. It explains the gap in between the blood splatters," Jun put an end to their quarrel.

"That also finalizes that someone was hiding under the bed, but why would someone need to incapacitate her in order to kill her? Why wouldn't they try to catch her off guard and kill her first?" That was a good question. What was the point of hiding when they could have gotten it over with in a simple swipe or stab.

"The killer was probably smaller or weaker than Ayane, and they knew that if they took her head on their plan would have failed," I said.

"Smaller or weaker, eh? Ayane was above average height, so that leaves out anyone that was taller than her. Who is short enough to hide under the bed without their legs sticking out?" Tomomi asked.

The shortest person here was Koharu, but I knew it wasn't her.

"I'm the shortest person here," Koharu admitted.

"Yeah, but you couldn't have killed her, right? You were with Hotaru the whole time while you were in the bathroom," Tomomi said.

"I did go with her to the bathroom - but I never actually stepped inside the bathroom with her. I waited for her outside, but you can trust me when I say she never came out until after we heard the scream," Hotaru said, backing up Koharu's story.

"We've already been over this. We know you two didn't do it," Owen said, hoping they would speed past this redundancy.

"It may come off as an insane lie, but I knew who the killer was once Koharu opened her mouth," Takeshi said. Daichi smiled, telling us he knew as well since he was such good 'friends' with Takeshi.

"Then who is it? You've been leading us on all this time just to toy with us, and we need to know who the killer is so we can finally end this!" I cried.

Takeshi signed, finally tiring of the game he had been playing with us up until now. I could tell Daichi was his partner in this joke they had played on us.

"I'm obviously not going to say the killer's name right off the bat. Instead, I want you to work towards it and figure it out on your own. After all, if I didn't do that you'd never grow and improve." He almost sounded sincere for a moment.

"Daichi and I were snooping around and came upon a secret passageway hidden inside the infirmary yesterday. We kept quiet about it, hoping no one would discover it, but that was wiped away when the murder happened."

A secret passage? I was dumbfounded. I couldn't tell anymore if he was telling the truth or if he was continuing his sick game with us, but I had no choice but to take his word for it.

"Where does the passageway lead to?"

"Now, if I told you that, it would surely be painting the murderer in red."

My patience was wearing thin, and I was ready to smack him upside his head. Him and Daichi were the only pieces to this case that would bring the killer to light, and they were withholding information willingly just to see us bicker and argue until exhaustion.

"If you don't tell us, then we'll all vote for the two of you, and then you will be killed along with the rest of us," I threatened.

"You are as crazy as I originally thought," he laughed, "but I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you where the passage led to. I'm growing tired of screwing around with you anyway."

"Then stop beating around the bush and spit it out!"

"Don't push your luck," he glared at me. "The passageway leads to the bathrooms."

A vice gripped around my chest. That was **more** than enough to close this case. If he had just brought this up earlier we would have closed this case sooner.

"That means-" Tomomi cut off, realizing it, too.

"It makes sense why Ayane saw her killer, but didn't react before being killed. Her face was in horror because she had realized that her killer was her best friend," I said, pointing my finger at Koharu. "You've misled us for this long, pretending that you needed to use the bathroom, but you just used that as an alibi. You weren't scared to roam the hallway, you just wanted one of us to go with you so you would have someone to back up your alibi. It's sickening that you would kill your only friend in this place!"

Koharu's face clenched up in fear.

"I'm not the killer!" tears streamed down her face.

"You are! And you had hoped the blame would fall on Hotaru while you used her as your air tight alibi! Unfortunately for you, Takeshi found the secret passageway that led to your downfall."

"T-t-the fact that the secret passage led to both the bathrooms doesn't prove I'm the k-k-killer!" She was putting up a hard fight. The trial had gone on for this long due to complicated evidence, so I found it hard to believe she was going to give in easily this time.

"Hey, Kokoro. Don't you think it's a little harsh to pin Koharu as the suspect? I mean, look how small she is. I don't think anyone as sweet as her could kill in cold blood," Tomomi wanted to deny it too, but somewhere in her voice I could tell that she knew Koharu was the only one who could have been the killer. I couldn't believe I had suspected Hotaru, and even almost voted for her.

"Her small stature is exactly what made this kill easy for her. She was able to hide under the bed, and catch Ayane off guard. She had to incapacitate Ayane first because Ayane is much taller than her, so she needed to get Ayane low to the ground in order to cut her throat," I said. Come to think of it, I did think it was strange for Koharu to suddenly need to go to the bathroom. She had waited for just the right moment it seemed before she made her move. Owen never saw her because she never used the main entrance, and the passageway was carefully concealed.

"I-i-if you're going to blame me, then you n-need more evidence to back it up!" She didn't know when to throw in the towel. The hidden passage was the golden ticket to this trial, and yet she refused to acknowledge that she had been beat.

 _More evidence? What more could she possibly want to prove her guilt? There was no more evidence left._

"I don't think she wants you to prove how she did it," Hanoka told me, "I think she wants you to prove how she managed it in the amount of time that was provided to her."

"I see," I pondered it through my head. With the fifteen minutes she had, I don't think planning on its own would have been enough to commit the murder in such a short time. "Takeshi, how long did it take you and Daichi to reach the bathrooms?"

Takeshi snorted. "By fast walking, it actually took us about thirty minutes. Much longer than it took to kill Ayane."

"S-see? I told you I'm not the killer! Even though I was in the bathroom I wouldn't have had enough time to move through the passage and back!" She did it within fifteen minutes somehow, and I had to point this out and hope that she would give up.

Hanoka pulled out a file. I immediately knew what it was once I took a closer look at it, and I tried recalling Koharu's talent. "I hope this will ring a bell," Hanoka smiled at me. It did, and if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have been able to close this case with the evidence Koharu desperately wanted me to bring attention to.

"You're talent is being swift-footed, meaning you are extremely quick and agile on your feet. With your speed, you would have been able to move through that passageway and kill Ayane without losing a minute. It was what made your alibi so perfect up until the end, but your luck has run out."

It was time to shed some more light on this case.

"You wanted to hang out with me and Hotaru because you had planned your murder the day before. You didn't partner up with Ayane because you knew that if you were together, you wouldn't have been able to isolate her where you wanted, and your plan wouldn't have worked out. You chose the library because it was the closest to the bathrooms, and you made up a story about being scared to roam the halls. This was so you could secure your alibi, and if anyone questioned it the person who went with you could back you up. Unfortunately for you, Daichi and Takeshi had already discovered the hidden passageway, which made everything you had covered up until that point a waste of effort. I suspect you found out about the passageway when you were in the infirmary the day I blacked out. That was also the chance when you were able to grab the scalpels. After going to your room, you had found out about the toolboxes Monokuma had given us as well, and used that same exact screwdriver to plant the false air vent evidence. You tried to cover this up by discarding the screwdriver, because you had nowhere to hide it on your body, and if you had carried it with you you would have been found out. But you hadn't planned on Hanoka finding it. You screamed, pretending to be Ayane as if she had just been killed. Then, you slipped back through the hidden passage, and having swift feet, you managed to get back to the bathroom and pretend that you were innocent. You had used Hotaru as not only an alibi, but you tried to make her seem suspicious as well. You knew that if she had walked you to the bathroom, then she would not have a witness to prove that she did not slip out and kill Ayane, but you didn't consider the possibility of your hidden passageway being found out. Admit to your crimes so we can just end this, please," I begged her.

I was tired of fighting, and tired of going back and forth in an endless debate. I never thought someone as kind a Koharu would be the first to kill. Everyone was just as horrified as me. I couldn't manage to say anything. My hands just trembled at my sides and I closed my eyes. I didn't want to believe it anymore. This is what despair felt like. Knowing that you would never get to see someone again because they were going to die was a terrible feeling beyond description.

"I give up. I did it," Koharu looked at the ground in grief. She had finally stopped the debate with her own words.

No one had questioned it. We started the vote and everyone voted for Koharu. The only suspenseful thing was seeing if she had been the actual killer or not. It was a bit ridiculous, but I was still curious.

Monokuma spoke again, "See, I told you the Monokuma file could help find the murderer!"

He clutched his stomach and roared out a mighty laugh. I wish he wasn't just on the tv screen or I would have chopped his little bear self into pieces.

"You all voted right! Miss Koharu did kill Ayane!" He laughed again. At the beginning, I had mistaken Monokuma for a depressed person because of his monotone voice over the speaker, but I had realized that was just an act to set the grim mood for us. Now he was obnoxious and even giddy, and was more than happy to see someone die. Whoever Monokuma was, they were going to pay for this.

"Why? Why did you do it?" I asked. It took me a while to feel small tears rolling down my cheeks. I didn't know it at the time, but I had actually cared for Koharu. I had actually cared for everyone, but this was not the way. Killing was only going to tear us apart and make us distrust each other.

"I'm not as nice as you think I am, that's only an act to get people to trust me. I just used you, Ayane, and Hotaru to get out of here, and I knew that if I played the innocent little kid I would have gotten off scotch free. My plan was going perfectly until the hidden passage was discovered, but I guess that's Karma's way of getting back at me for murdering an innocent person. I don't know why I chose Ayane, it was just a conscious decision because she was so nice to me and was the first person to speak to me. I took advantage of her kindness. She was the only one I could get to trust me, so I killed her. I only wanted out of this place. Can I really be blamed? You all want out,too."

She did have a point. I wanted out just as much as everyone else, but-

"That's not a good excuse for murdering someone! We all want out but we would never kill for it because killing is unforgivable!" I yelled at her. More tears streamed down my face. I didn't know why I was getting emotional over this. It must have been due to broken trust. Trust was hard to gain, and could take a while before it emerged, but that trust can easily be broken and could take years to repair. I had never realized that someone breaking your trust could feel so heart wrenching. It was the worst feeling I had ever felt, and it slowly started to submerge me into that inky black abyss of despair. Her reason for killing was selfish. It was unjistified. And yet here she stood with a grin on her face, taunting me and the others with that sinister stare. I had never expected Koharu to be this devious. She resembled a devil with those fiery orange eyes, and she had been staring straight at me, gaze never faltering. I wasn't sure if she showed signs of mental illness, but here she was in her psychopathic state. Then again, I had reason to believe we were all insane in some way. It was probably being locked up inside of an abandoned building that caused everyone to mentally break down in some way, but this was going too far. She took it too far. I could only hope that no one would kill again.

"Alright! Is everyone ready?" Monokuma was eager to get on with it. "IT'S PUNISHMENT TIME!"

And with that the games were starting to begin. Without warning, Koharu's square beneath her feet opened, like a trap door, and she feel into the unknown. After a few seconds, the tv screen flickered, and Koharu's face came into view.

 **Execution: Koharu**

She was strapped to a surgery table, unable to move. Her eyes looked left to right in a of her top was open to reveal her stomach. A machine attached to the ceiling was just above the surgery table for some purpose, and it had a claw-like arm clutching a scalpel. It dived downwards, slicing into Koharu's chest, and cut all the way down to the abdomen, slicing her wide open. It was sickening to look at. All she could do was scream and struggle. In the final moments, the scalpel came back up and sliced open her neck, just like she had sliced open Ayane's neck.

 **Execution End**

It was the wrong moment to think of it as ironic, but that was pretty much what is was. Irony.

The screen turned itself off. She had just been _executed_ and there was nothing we could do to help. It was horrifying. Were we all going to be killed in such a brutal way? I just wanted out of here, but I didn't want to go through _that_ just to escape. My brain was in such shock that I couldn't feel how much my body was shaking. Jun placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It's over now. All we can do is move forward and hope for another way out."

I wondered if it was truly over. But he was right, the only thing I could do now is hope no one would murder again.

 **First Class Trial End**


	7. Discovering a new Opening

**_Despair._** That's what I felt as I lay on my back and looked up at the ceiling. One moment you have a close friend, and the next they are taken away from you. It was a terrible feeling, and I didn't want to experience it again. I didn't know Ayane that well, but I could tell deep inside she was a good person, and she didn't deserve to die for a selfish reason. Neither did Koharu - no matter her evil intentions. It scared me to think that someone would kill just to save themselves. I didn't know if it would happen again, and to not see it coming was a sickening feeling. I don't want to die here. I want to escape along with everyone without seeing another murder. But that was only false hope.

 _Bang. Bang. Bang._ I heard the sound of someone knocking on my door. I hesitated to get up because I didn't know what to expect if I were to open it. Would it be someone out there ready to kill me? I rose up and let my feet slide to the floor. Slowly, I walked towards the door and reached my hand outwards for the handle. Then I stopped. What was I doing? Was I really prepared for someone if they were to charge in at me? I glanced over at my swords, which were sitting on my desk, unstrapped from my back. I could quickly grab them before letting whoever it was inside.

Then, before I knew it, my hand turned the knob and opened the door against my will. There I saw a familiar face looking back at me with concern.

"You okay?" Tomomi asked.

I smiled in relief. It was only her. I gave her a slight nod. "Yeah."

"That's good. I'm glad you're doing okay. I see your legs have gotten better."

I subconsciously reached down to feel my legs, almost with the thought that they had disappeared.

"I'm glad, too. For a moment I thought I had woken up with permanent paralysis." I looked her in the eye and noticed she had more to say. "So what are you doing here?"

"About that..." She glanced off, wondering if it was a good idea to tell me. "I have something to show you."

My eyes flew open in an instant. "What is it? Did someone else get killed?"

"No. I wanted to show it to someone else to make sure I'm not going crazy."

I nodded. "Lead the way." She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down the dark corridor. We ended up at the elevator we had recently gotten off of not so long ago. It sent chills down my spine to think that whenever we got on the elevator it would be because someone died. But now, it was a different vibe that was equally as unsettling. She slid the door open and walked inside, me following behind. "Where are we going, Tomomi?" I asked her when she shut the door behind us.

"Please, call me Momo." She smirked as she hit the button to the 4th floor.

"I thought the elevator was shut down after we ended the class trial." I clenched my hands together and wondered what she was up to.

"Not anymore. I was meddling around last night and discovered that we can now visit the 4th floor. The only problem is that that's where it stops. It won't go to the 3rd, 2nd or 1st. Only the 4th and 5th."

I glanced over at the elevator buttons as we slowly descended to the 4th floor, and noticed something out of place. There were six buttons - not five.

"Hey, Momo. How come there are six buttons when there are only five floors."

Tomomi didn't answer for a few seconds. She rubbed her finger over the button that said 6B, which was the sixth floor. But when we started the game we were on the very top floor and had to descend down to get to the first floor, so it didn't make any sense to me. Why was the 6th floor closed off, and why didn't we start there?

"I can only guess that 6B is the basement floor we were on when we started the class trial. That's the only other floor we've seen that's closed off to us for the time being. Plus, it's in front of the lower numbers, so that probably means it's below the first floor. It has to be the basement. Don't worry too much about it, this warehouse is just labeled weird."

"That makes sense." I let out a breath of air. "We do need a genius around here to help us out of this situation anyways, and you'll be of much help to everyone."

"I don't know about that." She avoided eye contact with me.

"What's wrong?"

"I just don't want to let anyone down."

"We're all doing our best to help everyone and get out of here. You'll do just fine, too."

"I can only hope so," she said as she let out an aggravated sign. I didn't ask her anything more.

The elevator came to a slow stop. I held my breath, imagining what I would see. Tomomi looked over her shoulder back at me and chuckled. "Stop being so tense. The place is gorgeous compared to the 5th floor."

She slid the door open and led me out onto a large marble floor. There, in front of us, was a water fountain pouring out clean crystal water - unexpected of a run down warehouse. Real plants lined the corners and space of the room, but the room still looked completely empty with as much space that was left open. It looked almost as if it could be a ballroom with the black and white checkered flooring. "Care to dance?" Tomomi did a curtsy in front of me as a joke.

"Oh please. I don't know how to dance. I would just embarrass myself." I blushed and turned away.

"I can teach you later. This place is beautiful, no? It's so much more grand than the dull 5th floor."

"Yeah," I said. "I only hope it gets more beautiful as the floors go down."

"I was hoping to explore the entire 4th floor with you. I was curious, but nervous to go alone because I don't know who else knows about this. I felt safer with you."

"I'm glad you brought me. I get to see such a beautiful place, now."

She nodded in agreement. We explored the massive space of the 4th floor, and wondered if it was possible for such a place of its stature to be bigger than the 5th floor. How could such a dirty and dingy warehouse have such a beautiful environment? It didn't match, and was completely out of place. It was big enough to get lost in if you didn't know how to backtrack your steps. Long hallways led to a dining room, with a table and chairs long enough to fit over 30 people, and even cut off to what looked like 3 Queen sized bedrooms. On further inspection, there were no more than 3 new bedrooms, which meant that 16 of us were going to have to compensate and come to an agreement on who would get the better rooms upstairs. There was an entertainment room with a large tv system, however it didn't pick up any channels, and was deemed useless in my book. It was the only tv up here that allowed us to see Monokuma whenever he popped up. There wasn't really much else to the floor, except that it was unnecessarily huge and gorgeous. It was like and extra floor to come to whenever we got bored. Or it was just another clean environment Monokuma wanted to use for us to kill in. It was probably going to give the others hope for a new way out, and then when we come to the conclusion that there is no way out, it will start a new killing and put us back into despair. That was probably Monokuma's psychology. More of a Bait and switch. I didn't like this one bit, but I was going to try to play it out and hope for the best. There has to be another way out besides killing. Even jumping out the window may be a possibility now...then again, no, because even 4 floors for a warehouse would be 40 feet. We'd all break our legs in that attempt. _Damn_. So there really is no other solution. Unless someone can somehow override the elevator and get it to go down to the 1st floor without raising suspicion.

Wait. There has to be another passageway that's hidden. It could lead to a lower floor, and we could skip at least one whole killing.

No. I'm just getting my hopes up. Maybe it's best if I try not to think too hard about it.

"Hey!" Tomomi's voice startled me. We haven't said a word to each other since we started exploring. I turned my attention to her, curious to what she wants.

"We've been on this floor for hours and I've got the slightest suspicion that this can't be all there is to it."

"I was thinking maybe there's another hidden passage," I said.

"Me too...but then that would actually be overdoing it a little. What if there isn't a hidden passage, but something else each floor has unique to it?"

I shook my head at her in confusion. "We don't even know what that is. We're just going on suspicion rather than facts. Maybe if we were to actually come across something- like a hint or a clue. But for now we'll just have to leave it alone. This floor is too huge to go over again and I'm getting tired just walking around."

She let out a yawn. "You're right, kid. Let's just go back to our rooms for now until we can gather more people to cover a larger area. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go to people about this just yet. You never know how they'd react, but I trust you."

Someone who actually trusts me in this place? It seemed so surreal. I wasn't sure if I could trust anyone after Koharu's act, but Tomomi gave me a different feeling. I knew I could trust her, and my expression told her I did. We were partners in this, and we were going to have to stick together, if no one else could. Then, a suggestion came to me.

"How about we just rest on these floors for tonight. I don't feel right being around that elevator."

"Okay, but just for tonight. We don't know if we'll be the ones getting these rooms."

* * *

I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I didn't feel tired, but I must have been stressed more than I thought I was. I woke up to the sound of footsteps going back and forth and noticed my bedroom door ajar. I must have been so out of it that I forgot to close it.

 _Or-Did I really forget to close the door?_

I walked outside to see who was pacing, but didn't know who I was expecting to see other than Tomomi, since we're the only two who knows about this floor being available.

Tomomi was crouched down, staring at the hallway walls. Her hands were feeling all over as if she were expecting to come across a secret switch or button. It was then she noticed me staring at her and shot up like a bullet. I told her it was pointless to look, as we more than likely weren't going to find anything. We then proceeded back downstairs to meet the others, and told them that the 4th floor was now accessible. No one reacted positively to it. Everyone looked like they had been told the worst news in their lives, since it would probably lead to more killing.

Even so, everyone piled on the elevator and were flabbergasted when they saw the beautiful sight of the ballroom and waterfall. It was probably something they weren't expecting, and probably why they were so disappointed to find out, because they thought it would be another depressing floor. But it seemed to cheer everyone up. Maybe there was hope after all.

Tomomi locked eyes with me and we smiled at each other. _I just hope we did the right thing_ , her eyes said.

I hope so, too.

Hopefully this won't lead to another killing.


End file.
